Lime syrup marble cake, a movie and a great soundtrack

Days ago I felt like going to the movies but wasn’t in the mood for drama or tears – that made me immediately discard the idea of watching Still Alice despite my love for Julianne Moore and since I’ll only watch horror movies when my sister comes along I completely ignored The Lazarus Effect.

There was Love, Rosie left and I guess it was exactly what I needed that day: nothing serious, a bit of romance, a bit of comedy – the perfect combo. :) But what I really loved about the movie – besides Sam Claflin ;) – was the soundtrack: I looked it up on Spotify and haven’t been able to stop listening to it.

With a good soundtrack sorted out all I needed was a good cake recipe to bake, and the limes in my fridge sent me directly to a couple of recipes with lime published by Dan Lepard on The Guardian ages ago – the cake turned out moist and delicious, and I thought it was a nice change from the usual marble cakes.

Lime syrup marble cake
slightly adapted from Dan Lepard

Cake:
finely grated zest of 3 limes
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (175g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 medium eggs*
150g plain yogurt
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt

Syrup:
1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x10cm (8x4in) loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter it as well.

Place zest and sugar in a large bowl and rub them together until sugar is fragrant. Add oil and eggs, whisk until creamy, then whisk in the yogurt, melted butter and vanilla. Whisk in the flour, baking powder and salt, then tip two-thirds of the mix into the pan. Beat the cocoa into the remaining batter, spoon this into the pan over the yellow batter and gently swirl the two together. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for five minutes. Meanwhile, mix the lime juice and sugar until you have a clear syrup. Prick the cake with a toothpick, then gradually spoon the syrup over the cake, waiting for the syrup to be absorbed before pouring more.
Cool completely in the pan.

* I had only large eggs at home, so I chose the smallest three I could find and used them in the recipe

Serves 6-8