A birthday to remember, part 2

A rainy Sunday in not so sunny Barcelona and I find myself at a loss for words and cooking inspiration. I just made myself a mound of scrambled eggs with mushrooms and jalapeños and my Sunday favorite, frozen french fries. I'm resting up for the week ahead, which will consist of late nights at the office attempting to meet our print deadline, organizing my big move out to San Francisco and a baking marathon full of sugar and cracked eggs.

Baking is like meditation for me, I lock myself in the kitchen blasting A Tribe Called Quest and enter the world of measuring cups, beaters and plenty of butter. I believe this baking trait runs in my blood, passed down from my grandmother, to my mother and then myself. These two women have given me recipes that make head spins, one of which is the most rich, creamy cheesecake ever invented (the only one that matches it is Babbo's Mascarpone Cheesecake). My mother has made me swear to never share the recipe, but maybe one day I'll convince her otherwise.

In honor of these 2 women and other baking gurus, I vow to do some serious baking to get me through the week. To begin let me back track to last weeks birthday dinner, I completely forgot to mention the best part, the cake. My friend Semra is a big marble cake fan so after lots of discussion and research I found just the right recipe to stick 23 candles into (or the 2 tea light candles I had to use after forgetting birthday ones). It was devoured in under half an hour, including the bowl of left over icing. I believe that was a very good sign...in fact I could go for a slice or 2 right now.

Marble Cake

Modified by myself from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

4. In a large bowl beat the butter sugar with a electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add one egg at a time, beating until combined after each and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the flour.

5. Put 1/3 of the batter into a medium sized bowl.

6. In a small bowl, mix cocoa and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons bo

iling water until smooth. Add the cocoa mixture to the bowl with 1/3 of the batter and stir until combined.

7. Spoon batters into the pan in 4 layers, first vanilla, then chocolate and so on. Using a table knife, run it through the batter in swirling motions to create the marble effect.

8. Bake for 40-50 minutes, turning half way through.

9. Cool and serve with or without icing.

Chocolate Buttercream

2 sticks butter

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 3/8 cups confectioners sugar

1/8 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt chocolate and let cool for 20 minutes

2. While it's cooling, cream butter with an electric mixer until it is light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

3. When chocolate is cool, add it to the butter and mix on low speed.

4. Add the sugar, milk and vanilla and mix on low speed until well combined.

5. Serve on cake, cupcakes, ect.