marble loaf cake

A few weeks ago I had a very solid 3lb butter week.  I had a dear coworker leaving, a wonderful friend celebrating an engagement, and a full-belly laugh nephew turning three.  There’s really no other way to respond to these events than with a marble pound cake, coconut loaf cake with ganache, and a strawberry layer cake.In my ongoing series of immense cravings for desserts I’ve never had before, marbled pound cake was up there.  This recipe was everything I imagined and will be in my regular rotation.She’s photogenic like whoa and you can actually taste the chocolate layer and vanilla layers as distinct.  The crumb is tightly packed while still being soft and it’s a texture I’d like to make into a mattress/pillow set.  Sort of like an airy fudge?  An airy fudge you want to sleep on and eat.I found this recipe from Wood and Spoon and there’s not much I don’t want to make from her.  That blog feels like the grown up version of what I want this blog to look like once we graduate and grow out of our awkward phase.In her directions she recommendations making each batter separately as the chocolate has slightly less flour due to the addition of cocoa powder.  I’m a lazy baker so I took a chance and just divided the batter into two before the dry ingredients step.  She also adds a chocolate glaze and I think this is the first time in my life I’ve ever forgone a chocolate glaze but I just feel for the simplicity of this being a more simple snack cake.  Plus I worked hard for the swirls and wanted to show them off. Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot wrap to save my life so this parchment paper number is my first and last impressive packaging.  A marbled loaf swan song.

marble pound cake

(recipe ever so slightly adapted from Wood and Spoon)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup flour for vanilla batter and 1/2 cup flour for chocolate batter

1/2 teaspoon baking powder (per each batter)

1/4 teaspoon salt (per each batter)

6 tablespoons buttermilk, room temperature (per each batter)

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder for the chocolate batter

directions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment. If you have a slightly smaller loaf pan, this will probably work too, as the batter doesn’t rise much.  For pound cake, it’s important all your ingredients are a room temperature, whereas usually I don’t bother with this.

Cream together your butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Next, add in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.  At this stage, scoop out half the batter (about 10 oz) into a medium sized bowl to start making your chocolate and vanilla separately.

For your vanilla, stir in your 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Then stir in your 6 tablespoons of buttermilk.

For your chocolate, stir in your 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Then stir in your 6 tablespoons of buttermilk.

Use a scoop large dollops (about 1/3 cup size) of batter alternating into your loaf pan.  I did this in a checker board shape in about two layers.  Run a knife through the batter 4-5 times to create your swirls but don’t overdo it.

Bake in the oven for about 60 minutes, checking for doneness at 50.  Let cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  This cake kept exceptionally well and didn’t dry out over 2 days (it didn’t last longer than that to test the longevity.)

Enjoy : )