Thursday, March 29, 2012

Marbled Pound Cake.


I know. I've made marble pound cake before. But...

1. Sometimes real-life, off-the-blog baking isn't all chocolate ganache and layers of chocolate and caramel and doughnuts. It's simple. Classy. Chocolate + vanilla + cake. 
+ face. Obviously. 

2. Buttermilk. I love buttermilk. I want to shower in buttermilk. Buttermilk makes everything better. Fact.

3. This recipe is actually supposed to be baked in a loaf pan... not in a tube-pan-but-I'm-baking-it-in-a-loaf-pan-anyway. No crispy, burnt edges = pound cake success.  
4. Less sugar! Way less sugar, actually.  

5. But mostly? There were just a lot of last-minute coffee dates that started with my boyfriend ordering a slice of Starbucks marble cake, then turning to me and nonchalantly dropping, "Hey. Don't you have a recipe for this cake?  I love it when you bake. You're really pretty."
By the way, is pound cake a quick bread or a cake? I know it says cake right there in the title, but it's kind of deceiving since it's baked in a loaf pan and looks like bread and all that.
Plus if this were a cake there'd definitely be some kind of chocolate glaze or cream cheese frosting on top. And sprinkles. Always. This isn't even super sweet or all that chocolatey.   

Marbling things is my very favorite. 
So if you think about it... pound cake is kind of like banana bread. Or zucchini bread. Or french bread.

It's breakfast, basically.
Which totally legitimizes slicing it up and making it into french toast. I'm just saying.
Marbled Pound Cake


1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 + 3/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper; set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour.

Set aside 1/3 of the batter.

In a small bowl, mix the cocoa with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water with a rubber spatula until smooth. Add to the batter set aside and stir until well combined.

Spoon batters into the prepared pan, alternating between vanilla and chocolate. To create a marbling effect, cut a knife through the batters in a swirling motion.
Bake for 40-50 minutes,  rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then turn cake out from pan and allow to cool completely.

Source: From Buttered Up, originally adapted from Martha Stewart.

Comments (18)

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Looks very tasty!
I'm going to have to try this! My attempts at marbling have all been flops (tasty flops, but flops nonetheless). Also, a warmed up slice of *any* Starbucks loaf is like...omg heaven! Great post!
This looks awesome. I have been baking pound cakes for the past week with so so results. Yours looks divine. I love the marble effect :-)
This looks amazing....and you definitely don't need any special reasons to make another marbled pound cake....I think we could all use a little more pound cake in our lives!
That is beautiful! I am normally a traditional lemon poundcake kind of girl, but those picture are making me reconsider my stance. Gorgeous!
My mom swears that my grandmother's pound cake recipe is THE only recipe. But her recipe doesn't have an awesome swirl of chocolate in it! Making this ASAP!
EmmaBirdie's avatar

EmmaBirdie · 661 weeks ago

is it sweet enough cuz you hardly use any sugar
Gorgeous!
I love your Blog and your recipes..
New follower :)

Have a nice day!
Gorgeous blog. And the pound cake looks great.
Hot diggidy dog, what a recipe. I made a marble pound cake last week and it tasted good, after you spooned it out of the pan cause it stuck like glue because the chocolate dropped to the bottom of the pan and stayed there like concrete. The cake (and all the costly ingredients) was ripped to shreds after I took it out of the pan. The squirrels had a field day around here at my kitchen window. So, I decided to give yours a try.
My search is over. Funny how the simplest dishes are sometimes the hardest to master, like rice pudding. I have been looking for a CREAMY rice pudding recipe forever, still looking.
Your marble pound cake recipe turned out perfect, beautifull, tapped right out of pan, and DE-LISH. I am tickled pink. Thankx.
1 reply · active 446 weeks ago
Cindy, I have a rice pudding recipe from "Great British Cooking - A well kept secret", and it's quite simple. The trick is to us a short grain rice. I pick up Arraborio at the Italian Centre Store.
Butter your baking dish. Hear 3 c milk, a pinch of salt, 5 T of sugar, and 1/4 T vanilla in a heavy saucepan, bring to simmer. pour it over 1/2 cup of rice in buttered baking dish dot with tiny pieces of butter, and sprinkle 1/4 t of grated nutmeg. Bake at 275 for 2.5 hrs. Use real butter and freshly grated nutmeg - you'll be golden.
I saw a similar recipe that has a pinch of oregano as an added part for nutrition. The batter is very tempting, rich in chocolate goodness.
This actually reminds me of some cupcake recipes from the uk. Now let's see if I can't take this recipe and add my own personal touch.
Wow! This marbled pound cake is containing upon rich chocolate and cream which is all time favorite of people. From the pictures it is really looking yummy and I want to jumped over and take all the bites. This is best cake for small social parties.
Amazing article. I am so impressed. Could never think of such a thing is possible with it...I think you have a great knowledge especially while dealings with such subjects.
thanks for sharing
So good, thanks! I topped it with hard glaze (5oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 c. butter).
I made it today and when my (5-year-old) daughter saw your pics, she said: "that is your cake, Mommy" 🤣🤣🤣. Hahaha, I mean that it is identical to yours. We only have to taste it, but it's still cooling on the rack. 😘

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