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A red velvet twist on the classic marble cake

<p dir="ltr">Perfect for a Sunday morning, or if you want to make a final impression at your next dinner party, the options are endless. </p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Serves:</strong> 8</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Prep and cooking time:</strong> 1 hour, 20 minutes</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>INGREDIENTS</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Cake</p> <p dir="ltr">320g plain flour</p> <p dir="ltr">40g cornflour</p> <p dir="ltr">2 tsp baking powder</p> <p dir="ltr">½ tsp salt</p> <p dir="ltr">225g butter, softened</p> <p dir="ltr">500g caster sugar</p> <p dir="ltr">100g Greek-style yoghurt</p> <p dir="ltr">1 vanilla bean pod</p> <p dir="ltr">5 large eggs</p> <p dir="ltr">120ml milk Red velvet swirl</p> <p dir="ltr">30g unsweetened cocoa powder</p> <p dir="ltr">75g milk</p> <p dir="ltr">1 tbsp red food colouring</p> <p dir="ltr">Lemon drizzle icing</p> <p dir="ltr">Juice of 1 lemon</p> <p dir="ltr">225g icing sugar, sifted</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>METHOD</strong></p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-733ac1fe-7fff-3c9a-09c1-c737b138e132"></span></p> <ol> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and flour a 26cm (10-cup capacity) Bundt tin.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a K beater attachment, beat together butter, sugar, and yoghurt until well combined.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Split the vanilla bean down its length with a paring knife. Scrape out the seeds and add to the stand mixer bowl.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Turn the speed to low and stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in milk until combined.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">In a separate large bowl, stir together 2½ cups of the batter, cocoa powder, milk, and red food colouring until well-combined.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Add 1/3 cup plain batter and then 1/3 cup red velvet batter on top. Continue alternating batters, working your way around the tin, until batter is finished.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, and cool completely.</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">To make the lemon drizzle, mix the lemon juice with the icing sugar until smooth. Pour over the cooled cake. Slice and serve.</p> </li> </ol> <p><em>Image: Better homes &amp; Gardens</em></p>

Food & Wine

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Two babies survive being flown through a tornado in a BATHTUB

<p>When a terrifying tornado started on its path of destruction in the US state of Kentucky last week, grandmother Clara Lutz jumped into action. </p> <p>Clara's house began to shake, as she grabbed her grandchildren and sheltered them in the bathtub along with a blanket, a pillow and a Bible. </p> <p>15-month-old Kaden and his three-month-old Dallas were then ripped from their grandmother as the whole bathtub was pulled out of the house by the storm along with the babies, as Clara told the local <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.14news.com/2021/12/17/2-babies-survive-after-tornado-carries-them-away-bathtub/" target="_blank">Channel 14 News</a>. </p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“Next thing I knew, the tub had lifted and it was out of my hands,” she said.</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“I couldn’t hold on. I just – oh my God.”</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">Clara began looking for the kids through the wreckage, after she had just been struck in the back of the head from the bath's water tank. </p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">Her house was stripped down to the foundation, as the extent of the damage was shared on Facebook.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftrevion.benton.9%2Fvideos%2F1060808244737027%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=267&amp;t=0" width="267" height="476" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“All I could say was, ‘Lord please bring my babies back safely,” she said.</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“Please, I beg thee.”</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">The bathtub was found upended in her backyard, with her grandchildren inside. </p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">Three-month-old Dallas was taken to hospital for a head injury he sustained during the terrifying ordeal, but has made a full recovery. </p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">More than 90 people have been confirmed dead after more than 40 tornadoes tore their way trough several states in the US.</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020"><em>Image credits: Facebook - Sierra Lutz</em></p>

Family & Pets

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“Kmart turned my baby green”: Woman’s terrifying find in daughter’s bath

<p>A mother walked into a “horrifying” situation after she heard her daughter yelling for her in the bathtub. </p> <p>Kerri Sackville, author of<span> </span>Out There: A Survival Guide for Dating in Midlife<span> </span>wrote Kmart “did the dirty” on her after a $15 unicorn themed bath bomb kit turned her daughter and their entire bathtub a deep sea green. </p> <p>The author wrote in<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/kids/look-mum-im-an-alien-kmart-bath-bomb-turns-girl-green/news-story/d44b4b1fb5d8534a1577cd8a30811956" target="_blank">news.com.au</a><span> </span>that while she loves Kmart, she felt “betrayed” by her favourite retailer. </p> <p>Sackville said she should have known the horror that would await her in her daughter’s bath after her 8-year-old took to making her own bombs following the kit’s instructions. </p> <p>“There was green on the table and green on the floor and green on her hands and a bit of green in her hair, and if you think that should have alerted me to a potential issue, you are right,” she wrote. </p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 280.3992740471869px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7831821/kmart-mum.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/5792e94c9fc44537953abd1af16a2fca" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Image: news.com.au</em></p> <p>It was later once she heard a worrying call to come quickly that she realised her daughter was “green” from the Kmart bath bombs. </p> <p>“My precious child was emerald green. So was the bath water, the tub, and much of the surrounding wall.”</p> <p>Sackville scrubbed away at her daughter’s skin for what felt like “hours” but still “streaks of green remained. </p> <p>“...This was no water-soluble bath bomb; it seemed to be made from crushed permanent markers, or oil paints.”</p> <p>While she eventually managed to clean her bathtub, she says “a glint of emerald remains in the grout.”</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 280.3992740471869px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7831820/kmart-mum-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0a2b14b61857490c811870786e1705b8" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Image: news.com.au</em></p> <p>A Kmart spokesperson told news.com.au they urge any other customers who have had similar issues to get in touch. </p> <p>“At Kmart Australia, we are committed to the quality and safety of all of our products. We have not received an inquiry of this nature, but we welcome the opportunity to resolve this directly with the customer.</p> <p>“We encourage all customers who have experienced an issue with any of our products to please get in contact with our Customer Service Team on 1800 124 125.”</p>

Food & Wine

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Three-year-old NSW boy gets fingers stuck in bath plug hole

<p>A three-year-old boy from NSW has found his fingers stuck in the plug hole of his bathtub, with paramedics called to the scene to cut the toddler free.</p> <p>Leo’s mother, Corinne Deiner, knew she was going to be in for a long night when she noticed that her three-year-old had become a little too curious for his own good.</p> <p>"I hear this voice go, 'I'm stuck', and I'm like, 'oh, what kind of stuck'?", Corinne said.</p> <p>Remarkably though, despite Leo stayed calm through the whole ordeal.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F7NewsAdelaide%2Fvideos%2F1731610860202895%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>"He was pretty much back against the wall, three fingers straight down, just sort of looked at me like, 'I'm in trouble aren't I?'", she added.</p> <p>It took an hour to free little Leo.</p> <p>"We flipped the plate out, and then once that was out, they put a film under each finger and had to cut each individual hole to get each finger out," Kahlie McLennan from NSW Ambulance said.</p> <p>Each finger was a little swollen but not injured.</p> <p>"I was very proud of him," Leo's mother said,</p> <p>"He cried only a little bit and that was when they were trying to cut the drain off his fingers."</p> <p>What a brave little boy! Have you ever had a child or grandchild become too inquisitive for their own good? Share your story in the comments section below. </p> <p><em>Hero image credit: Facebook / 7 News Adelaide</em></p>

Home & Garden

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Coconut chocolate marble cake with chocolate bourbon glaze

<p>There are days when you skip the almond milk latte and dive straight into the cheesecake, possibly even for breakfast.</p> <p>When that day comes where your body is craving a pick me up, sometimes, you have to give in. Easy to mix, slightly fiddly to spoon and swirl, but straightforward to bake, this decadent treat might be what you’re looking for.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li>150g dark chocolate</li> <li>150g unsalted butter, softened</li> <li>100g cream cheese, softened</li> <li>30g neutral oil, like almond or sunflower</li> <li>250g castor sugar</li> <li>3 medium eggs, 60g each</li> <li>seeds from a vanilla pod</li> <li>75g desiccated coconut</li> <li>75g milk</li> <li>275g plain flour</li> <li>3 tsp baking powder</li> </ul> <p><em>Chocolate bourbon fudge glaze</em></p> <ul> <li>100g castor sugar</li> <li>10g cocoa</li> <li>50g milk</li> <li>20g butter</li> <li>100g dark chocolate, about 60 per cent</li> <li>15g bourbon, or orange juice</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li>Line the base and sides of a very large, deep loaf tin (1.5-litre capacity) with non-stick baking paper and heat the oven to 170C conventional or 150C fan-forced. Melt the chocolate and leave to one side.</li> <li>Beat the butter, cream cheese, oil and sugar for about three minutes until very light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until smooth then beat in the vanilla pod seeds. Beat in the coconut and milk then stir in the flour and baking powder.</li> <li>Divide the mixture into two bowls, and into one stir in the melted chocolate evenly. Scoop alternate spoonfuls of the vanilla and chocolate mixtures into the tin then gently swirl both flavours together with a butter knife. Bake for about 80 minutes or until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.</li> <li>To make the chocolate bourbon fudge glaze, put the sugar, cocoa, milk and butter in a saucepan, stir well and bring to the boil. Simmer for about two minutes until it thickens slightly (108C on a thermometer). Remove from the heat, wait for the bubbling to stop, then stir in the chocolate until smooth.</li> <li>Add the bourbon and stir through. Leave to slightly cool, stirring often, until it's thick enough to sit on the top of the case and drizzle down the sides. Leave the cake until the glaze is cool before slicing.</li> <li>Either pour it on when hot and thin, or wait until it thickens into a soft fudge consistency. Just enough to cover the cake, though delicious as a sauce for a blow-out chocolate sundae.</li> </ol> <p>What’s your favourite cake recipe? If you have one to share with the community, tell us in the comments below.</p> <p><em>Written by Dan Lepard. First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Stuff.co.nz</strong></span></a>.</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/06/chocolate-coffee-layer-cake/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Chocolate coffee layer cake</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/06/chocolate-pots-with-shiraz-syrup/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Silken chocolate pots with shiraz syrup</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2016/05/baked-chocolate-egg-custards/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Baked chocolate egg custards</span></em></strong></a></p>

Food & Wine

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Marble loaf cake

<p>This seemingly intricate classic marble loaf cake is a lot easier to make than it looks.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients: </span></strong></p> <ul> <li>125g of chopped butter</li> <li>¾ cup of caster sugar</li> <li>1 teaspoon of vanilla extract</li> <li>2 eggs</li> <li>2/3 cup of milk + 1 tablespoon of milk</li> <li>2 cups of sifted self-rising flour</li> <li>3 drops of pink food colouring</li> <li>2 tablespoons of sifted powdered cocoa</li> <li>1/3 tablespoon of bicarb soda</li> </ul> <p><em>Icing:</em></p> <ul> <li>2 cups of icing sugar</li> <li>1 tablespoon of cocoa powder</li> <li>15g of butter</li> <li>2 tablespoons of hot water</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li>Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease/line the base of a 13x23cm loaf pan. </li> <li>Use electric mixer to combine sugar, butter and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and continue beating mixture.</li> <li>Fold flour into combined ingredients, adding milk throughout and divide into three portions. </li> <li>First portion: leave plain. Second portion: add 3 drops of pink food colouring. Third portion: add soda, cocoa and 1 tablespoon of milk. </li> <li>Pour each colour into pan, alternating between the three. </li> <li>Use a skewer to lightly draw circles throughout the batter to smear the colours. </li> <li>Smooth the top of the mixture and bake for 50-55 minutes. (Poke a skewer into marble cake to test. If it comes back bare, it is cooked.)</li> <li>Let cool and turn to icing: sift coca and icing sugar together and add butter and water to mixture, beating until smooth. </li> <li>Spread icing over marble cake.</li> </ol> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/06/chocolate-almond-loaf/">Chocolate almond loaf</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/06/strawberry-rhubarb-cobbler/">Strawberry and rhubarb cobbler</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/lifestyle/food-wine/2015/06/berry-clafoutis/">Mixed berry clafoutis</a></strong></em></span></p>

Food & Wine

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