marble cake with white chocolate glaze

we end the night with this lovely sweet (and yes, i *am* back at the gym again this week). i’m not even fond of marble cake, but it seemed easy enough, i had some leftover buttermilk i wanted to finish up, and i want to keep practicing as much as i can.

because martha got me all worried about over-swirling, mine came out a little less swirled than i would have preferred; it only was on the top, not swirled on the bottom. next time, ditch the martha advice and swirl it out baby! and because i didn’t know there was a taste difference between “dutched” and “natural” i chose the latter (it was cheaper) and so it came out a little richer than it should have tasted. but all in all, a fun and super easy cake.

marble cake with white chocolate glaze
from martha’s baking handbook (2005, p. 65)

1 stick butter, room temp
1 3/4 cup cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk, room temp
1/4 cup plus 1 tb dutched cocoa
1/4 cup plus 2 tb boiling water

1. preheat oven to 350F. butter 9x5 pan. whisk cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. add eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each, scrape down sides as needed. mix in vanilla. add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with buttermilk – begin and end with flour. set aside 1/3 of the batter.

3. in bowl, mix cocoa and boiling water until smooth. add to reserved cake batter and stir in until well combined.

4. spoon the batters into pan in two layers, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate to create a checkerboard pattern. marble with knife through batters in swirling motion.

5. bake, rotating halfway through, until cake tester comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. transfer pan to rack and cool 10 minutes. turn cake out of pan and let cool completely.

white chocolate glaze

3/4 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
2 tb milk
2 1/4 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled

1. in small bowl, whisk together sugar and milk to consistency of thin sour cream. add melted chocolate and whisk until smooth. if too thin, add more sugar; if too thick, add more milk. use immediately.

ready for my close-up

a slice never hurt no one