Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake

4 months since the last post on this... 4 (or a little less) months since life has taken a full turn, and everything I knew to be normal changed.

No.. there's no death, there's no life-threatening illnesses that happened. Just a lot of drama, a lot of confusion, and a lot of re-thinking of life. Which is why I've been away from the blog so much.. I've just lost all motivation. I didn't even know Google Reader had shut down!

I logged on last week because I finally managed some time.. and saw that I couldn't read any of my blogs anymore. I've begun using Feedly for now, what are you guys using?

Anyway... on to the cake. Over a year ago, I'd excitedly ordered this bundt pan, and got a friend to lug it over for me, since finding one in India at that time was next to impossible. And then I used it once, it's been sitting on my table ever since.. I kept it there as a reminder to use it. After seeing it everyday and not using it, finally a day after my birthday, I picked it up and went in to the kitchen. Figured baking would be my birthday gift to myself.

And I realised.. I'd forgotten how much I absolutely love baking. What a stress buster it is. How calming the measuring and scooping out of ingredients could be.. how therapeutic watching the mixer turn regular ingredients into gorgeous batter could be, and how enjoyable the sense of letting go and relying on the oven was. The anticipation of watching the oven work its magic and turn regular batter into a thing of joy was the perfect birthday gift.

As was this cake. It's the perfect coffee cake, it's light yet rich, and not sickeningly sweet. I forgot to marble the cake, and instead just ended up layering it, but it was just an aesthical flaw. I found the recipe over at Food Librarian, whose I Like Big Bundts activity is the first thing that shows when you look for bundts. When I clicked over and saw that the recipe is from my favorite book, Baked , I was sold!

Make this cake now. It's a crowd pleaser! Also, please do tell me how you guys are managing without Reader, is Feedly really the best option?





Marble Bundt Cake
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Chocolate Swirl
6 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder

Sour Cream Cake
1 cup [2 sticks/226 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups [450 g] sugar
4 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream - I used homemade sour cream, so the weight will vary
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups [420 g] all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt - omit if using salted butter

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan (Mine's a 12 cup).
2.  Chocolate Swirl - In a medium saucepan, melt together the chocolate and cocoa on extremely low heat, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Sour Cream Cake - In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down, then add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Now stir in the sour cream and vanilla, and mix till incorporated
4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt (if using). Add this into the butter mixture in three additions, mixing just till incorporated between each addition, do not overmix.
5. Scoop 1/3 of the ready batter (approximate is fine) into the chocolate mixture, and stir until evenly mixed.
6. Pour half of the remaining batter into the bundt pan, and level with a spatula. Scoop the chocolate batter on top of this in dollops, it's ok if some of the white batter peeks through. Using a knife, swirl through the batter. Now pour the remaining batter on top, and swirl with a knife again.
7. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. You might need to tent the top with a foil if you feel it's getting too brown.
8. Cool to room temperature and remove from pan. Serves 6-8.