Geman Marble Cake recipe inside.
German Marble Cake
For the chocolate marble:
6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. sugar
5 Tbsp. milk
For the cake batter:
2 sticks sweet butter, softened
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark rum with 1/4 tsp. rum extract
OR omit the dark rum and use 1 full tsp. rum extract
Zest of one lemon, finely grated
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
Bundt Pan:
1 large (10 to 12 cup) bundt pan
Butter
Finely crushed Corn Flakes or Corn Flake Crumbs (commercial product)
Topping:
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Butter the bundt pan liberally; coat with corn flake crumbs; set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the cocoa and sugar with a whisk. Add the milk and mix to a paste. Set aside, and mix once again with a whisk before using for marbling mixture.
Place the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream for half a minute or so. Add sugar slowly, 1/4 cup per addition, mixing well between additions, until butter and sugar is well-creamed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add vanilla, rum and lemon zest, beating between each addition.
Mix flour and baking powder with a whisk and add to the batter in 3 additions, beating between each to incorporate flour. Beat one minute on medium after last portion of flour.
Stir the chocolate mixture with a whisk once more. Add 1/4 of the white batter ("eye ball" it) to the chocolate mixture and mix well.
Add 1/2 of the remaining white batter to the pan, being careful to disturb the crumbs on the sides of the pan as little as possible. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pan on top of the white batter. Place the remaining white batter into the pan on top of the chocolate. Smooth the top. Plunge a dinner fork vertically into the pan, through all three layers of batter. Remove the fork and, working your way around the pan, plunge it in a half-dozen or so times, each time removing it vertically. You should not stir the layers. You are just trying to give them a head start on the marbling process.
Position the pan in the middle of a pre-heated oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The top should be nicely browned. A toothpick or skewer should come out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Invert the pan and place the cake on a rack to cool to room temperature. Put a tablespoon of powdered sugar into a sieve and dust the top with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
My Notes:
This cake was the 'family birthday cake' as I was growing up. My German mother got the recipe from her mother. It had been passed down through the family for generations. There was even a 'war recipe' that had less eggs, butter and sugar, since those ingredients were in short supply in Germany during World Wars I and II. My mom used to tell me the powdered sugar on the top represents snow on top of the Alps. Being from southern Germany, that would make sense!
The cake is DENSE and heavy, and gets better a day or two after it's baked. It's wonderful with cold milk or a cup of coffee.
It freezes well. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and then in foil. It keeps well for 2 months in the freezer. Defrost in the wrapper and allow it to come to room temperature.
Try to use the Corn Flake Crumbs to coat the pan. You can use flour or corn meal, but the Corn Flake Crumbs makes for a delicious crust!
Michael
