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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
30 minutes
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Serves
Makes 20 pieces
Author Notes
If you know my family, we have a difficult time truly agreeing on anything food. Well, other than the fact that we all love to eat. It is not different for sweet treats. This is where a ridiculously simple and multilayered cake comes in handy. These bars are in the style of a snacking cake, they are quick, simple, and not overly sweet. But in their simple appearance lurks loads of flavor. A wide array of magical notes that hit you in different ways when you enjoy these bars.
The cake gets a nice amount of lightness from the buttermilk, notes of spice from the orange, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. To ensure that the marbling keeps up with with the spice this has both coffee and cocoa. And anything that uses bananas just makes for a warm moist hug. This cake takes about 15 minutes to put together. Around the time it takes for the oven to reach the baking temperature. So, there really is no reason not to make it anytime the craving hits.
And it is done in one bowl. Actually usually my food processor, can be any bowl and mixture. —Rinku Bhattacharya /Spice Chronicles
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Ingredients
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Extra butter for greasing the cake pan
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1/2 cup
butter, can be cold or at room temperature
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1 and 1/4 cups
light brown sugar
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zest and juice of an orange, such as a clementine
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2
large eggs
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2.5 cups
all purpose flour
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1 teaspoon
powdered ginger
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1/2 teaspoon
powdered cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon
powdered cloves
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1 teaspoon
Baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda
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3/4 cup
buttermilk
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2 tablespoons
sour cream (optional)
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1/2 cup
good quality unsweetened cocoa
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2 teaspoons
instant coffee powder
Directions
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Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the cake pan. You can use a sheet pan or a square baking pan.
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In a mixing bowl or bowl of a food processor, add in the butter, sugar, eggs and beat well until well mixed. Add in the orange juice and zest.
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Add in the eggs one at a time and mix well.
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Add in the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and buttermilk and the sour cream, if using mix well.
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Remove half the mixture and spread roughly in the cake pan or sheet pan.
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Add the cocoa and coffee to the remaining mixture and mix well.
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Add this to the sheet pan or cake pan and swirl roughly to mix in.
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Bake for 30 minutes, until done. The cake will be fragrant and an inserted toothpick will come out clean.
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Cut into squares and serve warm.
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