So for my dad's birthday this year, I made this Marble Bundt Cake! I am very indecisive when it comes to food and this Marble Cake helped me not pick between Chocolate & Vanilla! Extremely confused whether to make a Vanilla Bundt Cake with Lemon Curd or to make a Double Chocolate Bundt Cake with a hint of Caramel, made me combine both and make a Marble Bundt with Chocolate Ganache and guys, IT PAID OFF! It was so delicious and was done and ready in less than 2 hours. Let's get started with the basics for this recipe. What is a Bundt cake?It’s a cake made in a Bundt pan. A Bundt pan, has a long tube like structure in the middle, giving a decorative shape to the cake. The name Bundt comes from the German word Bund kuchen, Bund stands for tied together and Kuchen means cake. The shape of the Bundt Pan, such that it transfers the heat of the oven evenly. When the same cake is made in a regular circular or rectangular pan, it will either not be cooked in the center or burn on the edges. Bundt pan not only gives your cake a beautiful shape but also allows more of their edges to be in contact with the cake batter.What is a Marble Cake?A marble cake is a blend of both Chocolate and Vanilla Cake, so if you are ever confused between the two, go ahead of this Marble Bundt Cake. The Chocolate layer isn't too powerful and blends super well with the Vanilla Layers, giving you taste for both. How will this affect your process?Bundt cake is usually cooked at a higher temperature than the usual. Usually I try and bake the cakes at 160°C/ 140°C fan to make it softer and fluffier. However for a Bundt cake, it is advisable to cook at 180°C/ 160°C fan so that it doesn’t stick to the sides of the tin and creates firmer edges of the cake. Apart from the temperature, Bundt cake require comparatively more quantity of flour and eggs.Types of Bundt Pans:Where the various brand pans, have different designs for the decorative purpose of the cake, they are also made of different materials, like steel & silicone.1. Solid, tin like: This type of a Bundt Pan, is made of steel and is a hard structure, not foldable or collapsible.2. Silicone: Has a soft texture and is easily foldable.It is to be kept in mind, you would need to properly line the solid/tin cake pan with generous amount of oil and flour, there are more chances of your cake sticking to the pan in a Bundt Pan. Whereas, you don't need to line a Silicone Bundt Pan.Few things to keep in mind while baking a Cake:1. Temperature: Use room temperature ingredients, especially the ones you keep in the fridge, like milk, eggs, butter. Room temperature will guarantee better results.2. Don't Over mix: Avoid using a whisk attachment, use a paddle or spatula again. Overmixing your batter can lead to a less fluffy cake. Mix it only till when it's required.3. Avoid Opening the Oven too much: Every time you open the oven to check on your cake, you change the temperature of the oven, which can lead to cracks on the cake.4. Sieve your Dry Ingredients: Try and sieve all your dry ingredients, from flour to coffee powder. It will lead to a cleaner batter and softer cake.Size of the PanThis recipe is made using a 12 cup Pan, alternatively you may try and use a 9 cup pan, if that's the only one you have.. it should stay just fine by reducing amount of baking soda and baking powder, by just a bit. Alternatively, you may also just divide the entire recipe by half to make in a 6 cup Bundt Pan. The Chocolate GanacheIt's just an icing made of Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Cream. Make sure you are whipping your cream prior to use, and choose a Milk Chocolate which is not extremely heavy. For example, use dairy milk instead of dairy milk silk, or a lighter version of Hershey's. To make the Ganache lighter, we'll be combining it with Dark Chocolate. Baker's Cornstarch! What's that?While you be surprised to know, cornstarch being added to a cake is a thing! Now, please don't add it to a normal cake, round, rectangular, loaf etc. However, since Bundt Pans, have so much depth, the cake can be compressed, not leaving a fluffy cake. Cornstarch, helps in making the cake spongier and softer, while ensuring better binding of your Pound Cake! However, it's totally up to you, this cake can be made without it as well but I would recommend it.Now that we know a bit of nitty gritty of our Bundt cake, shall we get on with our beautiful cake recipe? Let’s get started!
Equipment
- oven
- Bundt Pan
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Spatula
- Stand Mixer (Optional)
- Whisk or Electric Whisk
- Cake Tester or a Wooden Stick (Skewer)
Ingredients
For the Marble Bundt Cake
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour or Cake Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 3 tbsp Baker's Corn Starch
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter soft
- 1½ cup Caster Sugar
- 4 Eggs room temperature
- 1 cup + 3 tbsp Milk room temperature
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder
For Ganache
- 20 g Dark Chocolate chopped
- 20 g Milk Chocolate chopped
- ⅛ cup Butter
- 2 tbsp Water
- 2 tbsp Granulated Sugar
Instructions
For the Marble Bundt Cake
- Start by preheating your oven to 180°C. Now, in a bowl - mix together the cocoa powder with 3 tbsp. Milk and set aside.
- Next mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and cornstarch), mix well and sieve until fine.
- In a bowl using an Electric Hand Mixer or in a Stand Mixer using a Paddle Attachment, beat together, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Next, add the Vanilla extract and mix.
- In the mixture, add the eggs one at a time, until they get fully combined before adding the next one. Wait for the first egg to be fully combined, before adding the second one and so on.
- Start folding the dry ingredients into wet, alternating with milk in 3 go. The sequence would flow like this. Flour-Milk-Flour-Milk-Flour! Do so until the batter comes together, and don't overmix.
- Now remove half the mixture and keep it another bowl. In one of them, mix together the Cocoa Powder mixture, until combined. Now you would have two batters - one Vanilla and other Chocolate.
- Line your Bundt pan generously with vegetable oil and dry flour. Pour your cake batter into the prepared tin. I used a 12 cup Bundt Pan, divide the recipe by half the recipe if you are using a 6 cup pan. Alternatively, if you have a 9 cup, give it a try - I think it should be fine.
- Now began adding your batters in layers one by one. Start with the vanilla batter, followed by chocolate and keep on doing until you have used both the batters completely.
- Once done, using a skewer of some sought - make swirls in the cake batter.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Use a cake tester or a toothpick to check if it's done, by inserting it into the center of the cake. All ovens work differently so keep checking the cake from outside. Although, avoid opening the oven too much. But every oven is difference, please use per your experience with your oven. Cover if foil if you think it's browning too much and too fast!
- Leave the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning the cake out. Patience is important at this point. Until then, keep yourself busy with making the Chocolate Ganache.
- When ready to open, turn it upside down and whack it from every side using a utensil until you feel it's okay to come out!
For the Ganache
- Begin by boiling water and sugar in a Sauce Pan - until the sugar is dissolved to make Golden Syrup
- Next, in a bowl - add chopped chocolate, hot microwaved butter and the hot syrup and mix it until the chocolate melts and you get your glaze.
- Drizzle it! Dip it! Enjoy it!
Closing Note
The confusion between a Chocolate and a Vanilla cake paid off with the Marble Cake. This was such a show-stopper, would definitely recommend you trying it.
It'll be great to have it in tea-cake form as well. Just divide the recipe by half and you should be good to go!!
Here are some more cake recipes, for the hbaker inside you!
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