Neapolitan Swirl Cake!

Sundays are definitely the best day of the week. I get to sleep in and Mohamed doesn't work so we have all day to hang out and do fun things. This morning we headed out right after breakfast to catch a glimpse of the protest we'd heard would be happening.

Even though the Arab Spring hasn't quite made it to Morocco, there are protests every week and today Mohamed had a friend who was coming in to Rabat to participate. It's unusual for out-of-towners to come in, so we thought it might be big.

I wish I'd taken my camera, but sadly didn't in an effort to travel light. When we finally found the hubbub, it was no ordinary protest at all- it was an Amazigh (Berber) protest! The Amazigh are the native North African people that make up large parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. They have their own languages, culture, history, etc completely separate from that of the Arabs.

Only recently did Amazigh become one of the official languages of Morocco, and many people feel that there's a long way to go in Arab-Amazigh relations. Anyways, Mohamed is Amazigh, so it was really fun to see everyone (I estimate over 1000?) out with signs, wearing and waving all kinds of Amazighian flags in hopes of getting the attention of the Moroccan government.

The protesters had a few different issues, but the biggest ones that I noticed were requesting the release of two political prisoners and the demand for a diverse counsel to create a truly democratic constitution. We followed the parade for a while and then found a new pizza place for lunch. Yum!

When we got home in the early afternoon, I had a serious cake craving. I definitely have a cake problem, but I don't see myself solving it anytime soon. The internet wasn't working, so I couldn't try any of the recipe's I'd saved on Pinterest. Darn!

Instead, I decided to put a twist on my favorite yellow cake recipe- you know, spice it up! My first thought was a chocolate/vanilla marble cake. That sounded good, but adding a third flavor sounded like a real blast. Neapolitan it is!

My favorite yellow cake recipe comes from the Peace Corps Morocco cookbook. I wish I knew who was the mastermind behind it because it is truly amazing. So easy, so simple and the moistest cake I've ever encountered.

I started by simply making the yellow cake batter. First you cream the butter/oil with the sugar. I usually just use oil, but because I knew I'd be adding flavors I had to up the fat a bit. I had exactly the amount of oil I needed for the recipe, so I added a tablespoon of butter just for good measure.

Next, you sift together the dry ingredients. To save myself a dirty bowl, I sift directly into the oil/sugar mixture, then mix this together a little bit.

Last, the beaten eggs, milk and vanilla go in the bowl. Mix this together well. You could stop right here if you want a delicious yellow cake! I bake this all the time and we eat it without any frosting at all. Just don't over-bake (I think that's the key to any delicious cake!).

Since I was going Neapolitan, I had to divide and flavor. For the chocolate, I added a packet of 100% cocoa powder (about 1 tablespoon). For the strawberry, I added two tablespoons of strawberry jam along with some pink food coloring to get the pretty color that I wanted. (Note- I have absolutely no idea if jam is supposed to flavor a cake. Also, gel food coloring is AMAZING!)

Next I layered the flavors in my greased pan and used a toothpick to create a pretty swirl. I'm not going to lie, I sort of wanted to just dip a spoon in and go to town. I refrained, you should be proud.

After 20ish minutes in the oven, the cake was done. I could hardly wait the entire 15 minutes to let it cool! To keep myself busy, I made mint tea to go along with our afternoon snack. Yum! We definitely did some damage to this cake and I can't wait to try it on day two! I'm generally a huge fan of 2nd and 3rd day cakes- unbelievable how delicious they get with time.

Yellow Cake (from the Peace Corps Morocco cookbook)

*2/3 c oil or butter (I use oil)

1 1/4 c sugar

1 t salt

2 1/2 c flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs, beaten

1 c milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter/oil with sugar. Sift together dry ingredients and combine with remaining ingredients and butter/oil mixture. Spread into greased pan and bake 25-30 minutes.

*If you're going to add flavorings, increase the amount of butter or oil by 1-2 tablespoons.

Neapolitan flavors

Chocolate- 1/3 of batter + 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Strawberry- 1/3 of batter + 2 tbsp strawberry jam + pink food coloring

I layered each flavor twice and then used a toothpick to swirl. Happy Eating!

Speaking of protests, has anyone attended one recently in the States? I feel like there hasn't been a lot of news recently featuring the Occupy movement, etc. Are they still happening?