This marble pound cake is buttery and rich with a very tight crumb. The simple base flavor of butter and vanilla is an excellent complementary taste to the slightly bitter chocolate swirled into every bite.
2cups minus 2 Tablespoons(215g) cake flour1be sure to measure properly
¼teaspoonsalt
1cup(227g) unsalted buttersoftened to room temperature2
1 and ½ cups(300g) granulated sugar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
4large eggsat room temperature2
¼cup(60g) sour creamat room temperature2
2Tablespoons(10g) unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
Sift the cake flour, add the salt, whisk everything together, and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl several times during mixing. The mixture should be very pale yellow after mixing.
With the mixer running, add the vanilla. Next, add in one egg at a time, mixing on medium speed and allowing each egg to fully incorporate before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently. Do not rush this process.
Again with the mixer running, add the dry ingredients to the bowl in three additions, alternating with the sour cream in two additions, starting and stopping with the dry ingredients. Continue to mix on medium speed in between each addition until fully incorporated.
Divide the batter in half and gently stir the cocoa powder into one half of the batter. Spoon each batter into the prepared pan, alternating between plain and chocolate. Use a butter knife to swirl the batter to make a marble pattern.
Bake the pound cake for 50-65 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs.
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes before turning out of the pan to cool completely before slicing. Store leftovers at room temperature up to 3 days. Loaf freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Notes
Cake flour: if you don't have cake flour, you can use a mixture of all-purpose flour and cornstarch. To do this: measure 2 cups (240g) of all-purpose flour into a bowl. Remove ¼ cup (30g) of the flour and put back into your flour container. To the bowl, add in ¼ cup (32g) of cornstarch and whisk everything together. You now have 2 cups of cake flour, so lastly, you'll want to remove some as per the recipe instructions. To do this: remove 2 Tablespoons of your makeshift cake flour, and you're ready to use it in your recipe.
Room temperature ingredients: it is imperative your ingredients are at room temperature in order for them to incorporate properly into the batter.
To make into a bundt cake: prepare a 12 cup bundt pan or a 10 inch (25cm) tube pan with non-stick spray. Add a few tablespoons of flour to the pan and tap it all around, dumping out any excess. Make a double batch of the batter (note, this will be a very large quantity and will require a mixing bowl at least 5 quarts in size). Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with moist crumbs.
Reprinted with permission from Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.