Recipe By Brynie Greisman
It’s Erev Shabbos and your friend/neighbor just had a baby. What can you whip up in no time at all with the ingredients you have on hand, to send to the Shalom Zachor? This cake is one of those easy ones and everyone loves it. The original recipe is from my mother-in-law. I humbly and unequivocally say, that I have the best in-laws around and if we’d all only follow their “recipe” for living, caring, and selfless giving, the world would be a better place.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit /180 degrees Celsius.
In a mixing bowl, cream together margarine or oil, sugar and eggs. Add baking powder, salt and vanilla.
Add flour alternately with the pareve milk.
Pour two thirds of the batter into a tube or Bundt pan. To the remaining batter, add the chocolate syrup and baking soda. (If you want it more chocolaty, leave a bit more batter in the bowl). Pour evenly over the vanilla batter in the pan. Bake for approximately 50–60 minutes.
You can bake the cake in mini silicone Bundt pans or in baby motif pans i.e. rattles, teddy bears (see photo). I recently made it for my daughter-in-law who had a baby girl and decorated it with pink mini plastic bottles; pacifiers etc. and she loved it. Often, it’s the small touches that make a big difference.
Healthier version: Use oil instead of margarine, use 70% whole wheat flour and use soy milk instead of the pareve milk. It’s sweet enough with just one and a half cups sugar too. You can even reduce the fat to 1/3 cup oil and 2/3 cup applesauce. It comes out fine.
