Chocolate Swirl Cake – So Good I Did it Twice! Recipe
This week is The Artist’s birthday. Thank goodness he will finally be able to drink legally, ROFL. It’s been hectic and crazy around here while I get ready to turn in the second half of the cookbook, but we both need to take a minute to breathe, relax, and celebrate.
When he was young, his favorite cake, the one he always asked for, was a chocolate/pistachio marble bundt that him mom made with boxed cake mixes and instant pudding. His tastes have changed and he prefers my “from scratch” cakes these days. The only thing missing is the pistachio, so I think this is a pretty darn great interpretation.
Alternating dollops of chocolate and vanilla batters
This cake is the ultimate blending of chocolate and vanilla, such a classic flavor combination. You could easily add additional flavorings if you like such as complementary alcohols, flavored oils, or spices. Some ideas that come to mind to blend with the chocolate batter would be orange, coconut, peppermint, or raspberry. All of those could be added to the “white” batter. I love recipes that give me options. You can totally customize this to please your family!
Because the chocolate batter tends to be thicker than the white chocolate batter, feel free to add a little extra milk to thin it out slightly. If the batter is too thick, you won’t get the right marbling. My chocolate batter was too heavy and I wound up with large hunks of chocolate cake instead of delicate marbling. It still tasted fantastic, but I would have liked a more ‘artistic’ look to my slices. It probably would have benefitted from a little more vigorous dragging of the knife through the batter, but The Artist certainly didn’t complain, LOL!
Two batters swirled before baking
One of the most fun aspects of making a marbled cake is not knowing what it will look like until you make the first slice. As you can see in the photos, from the top the batter looks like it was really well blended. But obviously the heavier chocolate batter didn’t mix with the white chocolate batter as well as I would have liked.
I used Scharffen-Berger semisweet block chocolate and unsweetened cocoa to get a nice, rich chocolate flavor for the dark batter. And Guittard’s white chocolate (I think it is the best) and extra vanilla paste for the light batter gave it a rich and creamy with a subtle flavor.
I loved the cake and was impressed with the texture that I got with my gluten-free flour blend and almond meal. Adding almond or hazelnut meal (flour) to your baked goods in place of a portion of the flour gives you a lovely mouthfeel and richness. The nuts lend their own oils to baked goods and really make a big difference. If you are a gluten-free baker, add some to your next sweet dessert and see what you think. You may fall in love the same as I have!
This cake travels beautifully and would make a lovely hostess gift or something to take to someone who is having a party. Also, it is easy to convert to gluten-free for those who cannot eat wheat products and no one would even know or care that it was gluten-free.
You may have noticed that the name of this cake matches the milk shake I shared last week. I thought it would be fun to serve them together and get a double dose of chocolate, vanilla, with ice cream alongside a big slice of the cake. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a birthday!
Happy Birthday to The Artist ~ thank you being such a wonderful partner in life! And Happy Chocolate Monday my friends!
Swirls of chocolate and vanilla make this cake as much fun to slice as it is to eat!
Jane’s Tips and Hints:
When you are swirling the dough, don’t over-do it. I took a class once from Nick Malgieri, one of the country’s greatest bakers and teachers, and that day he make a marble cake. He makes only two sweeps, in opposite directions, through the two batters to blend them! I can never stop at just two, but I try to control myself. And remember, by layering the batters in alternating colors, the cake is already marbled naturally – you’re just adding a little pizazz. 🙂
Gluten-Free Tips:
Use a gluten-free flour blend such as the one I use found here. This recipe adapts beautifully following the adjustments I added to the ingredients list. Make sure that you use gluten-free flour to dust your baking pan and not regular flour!
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking From My Home to Yours”
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking From My Home to Yours”
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