Jenni's Blog

As usual, this recipe comes with a story. My sister was supposed to be doing babysitting all day till "11" tonight,so my mother asked me if I would make a Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake. (of course, she walks in at 7:30 at which point I've already creamed the butter and sugar, and being committed to it, I continued on)

I looked at the recipe  (page 97 in Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Book, for "legal" reasons), it occurred to me that my sister wasn't a huge cinnamon fan. I mentioned this to my mother, and offered up an alternative from a recipe that we used from the Silver Palette Cookbook (Bishops Cake) and suggested I just Marablize it. So, I did. And it came out so damn sexy, so perfect, so unusually picturesque, I had to share it with you.

Later, meaning sometime tomorrow, I'll put the picture I have of it up. But for now, here is the Marble Cake recipe, I used the Sonoma one, but just left out it's namesake, and added something else. (and if you're skeptical of using one of my recipes, you have to trust me with this one, I mean, it's from Williams-Sonoma, right?) 

Oven to 350. Grease a 10-inch tube pan or a bundt. 

(I think the reason why the cake came out so clean was because 1) I sprayed the hell out of the pan with pan spray and 2) I waited a good 15-20 minutes before removing it from the pan) and 2.5) I ran a knife around the edges of the pan and the tube right after it came out of the oven to loosen it.)

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2.5 cups (12.5 ounces) white flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

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3/4 cup (6 oz) cubed butter at room temp

1 1/4 cups (10 oz) white sugar

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4 large eggs, also at room temp

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups (12 oz) sour cream

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 3-6 oz (depending on your chocoatage preferance) melted chocolate. (I used half bittersweet and half semisweet, but whatever you have or whatever you prefer is up to you, I'd just use something darker than milk)

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Combine first set of ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar and cream for two minutes on a med-low speed, or untill light and creamy. 

Add in eggs, one at a time, with the mixer running on the lowest speed, mixing well and scraping after each addition. Add the vanilla.

In a few different additions, alternate  the flour mixture and the sour cream, being careful not to overmix.

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the greased pan, and smooth all around untill flatened.

In the remaining 1/3, pour the melted chocolate and fold in thoroughly. Plop the chocolate batter in strategic spatula/spoonfuls and swirl with a skewer, knife, or whatever you have handy. Be careful not to overswirl too much. 

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or untill a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before removing it to let it cool all the way. 

This cake is perfect on it's own. It doesn't need glaze, icing, or whatever. But it is good with ice cream, whipped cream, or fresh berries. 

I really hope you like this recipe, I'm really happy with how it came out. =)