Classic Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake

I do love a good bundt cake. I feel like they’re somehow less fussy and formal than layer cake, but still, you know… Cake.

That’s why I zeroed right in on this recipe for Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake in my friend Irvin Lin’s new cookbook, Marbled, Swirled, and Layered. 

He makes it with a chocolate-coffee syrup swirled into the batter. Plus chocolate chips. Plus a thick vanilla glaze over top. Game, set, match.

If you’ve been reading Simply Recipes for the past few months, you have no doubt noticed some of the recipes Irvin Lin has shared here, like his Easy Peanut Butter Fudge and these very-tempting Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies. He does good things with butter and sugar.

In Marbled, Swirled, and Layered, he takes desserts up a notch or three. Not only are all the recipes visually stunning – as you no doubt guessed, they all incorporate some element of being beautifully marbled, swirled, or layered – but also, the flavor combinations are just out of this world.

Allow me to run through a few of the recipes that caught my eye as I paged through the book: Roasted White Chocolate Brownies with Strawberry-Balsamic Swirl, Apple Roses and Spiced Brown Butter Tart, Malted Milk Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Frosting, 8-Layer Orange-Scented Smith Island Cake, and Hazelnut-Cocoa Linzer Cookies with Blackberry-Mint Jam.

No, Irvin is not one to shy away from flavor.

With every recipe, I feel like I learn something new about the way seemingly very different ingredients can actually come together in interesting and unexpected ways. I especially love the way Irvin brings savory flavors into play, like that balsamic swirl in the brownies. It’s never so much savory that the recipe becomes savory, but just enough to make you perk up and pay attention.

If you are the kind of baker who loves to mix-and-match and have a little fun in the kitchen, then I advise you to pick up a copy of this book immediately.

You might be concerned that this is a book for serious bakers only, and yes, most of the recipes require a bit of focus as you’re making them so you don’t accidentally swirl when you should have layered. But I think that Irvin has include a nice mix of “dedication levels” in this collection.

There are some recipes that require very little planning or baking know-how (particularly in the cookie chapter and breakfast goods chapter), a good majority that ask you to set aside an hour or two for some baking fun-times (like today’s bundt cake), and then a few that ask you to clear your schedule and pull all your baking pans out of the cupboard.

Now, let’s talk about this bundt cake.

I confess that I like to eat cake more than I like to bake it, and this recipe was just my speed. Low effort, high reward.

You only need to make one batter (I’ve seen other recipes that have you make two, one chocolate and one vanilla), and then you scoop about a third of it into a separate bowl to mix with the chocolate syrup. This chocolate batter gets sandwiched between two layers of vanilla, which then get swirled together just before going in the oven.

I fretted over my marbling technique the entire time the cake was baking and cooling, but I didn’t need to worry. It was perfect. I love that there were distinct chocolate bits and distinct vanilla bits – tasty and so very pretty. (Follow Irvin’s advice to “sometimes dig deep to the bottom and lift up” as you’re swirling.)

The cake itself was also incredibly moist and tender, which has me thinking that this might just become my new go-to cake for all future cake-worthy events, forever and always.
To sum up, I’m a big fan of both Irvin and his new book. I highly recommend putting this one on your wish list this year.

Classic Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake Recipe

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour
• Cooling time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 1 bundt cake, 10 to 12 servings

"Growing up in the Midwest, no potluck was complete without a marbled Bundt cake. My mom made them all the time, one of only two desserts that she was known for, so when I hosted a dessert potluck at a local nonprofit community center with the theme “Like Mom used to make!” I knew I had to replicate her Bundt cake. The secret to this recipe is the homemade chocolate syrup, which you make on the stove before adding it to the batter. Made with coffee and cocoa powder (and a touch of honey), it lends a rich, deep chocolate flavor because the cocoa blooms in the hot coffee. You don’t necessarily taste the coffee or honey, but they both boost the chocolate goodness!" - Irvin
Text excerpted from MARBLED, SWIRLED, AND LAYERED © 2016 by Irvin Lin. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Ingredients

To grease the pan:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the chocolate syrup:

• 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (55 g) natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
• 1/2 cup freshly brewed strong hot coffee
• 1/4 cup (85 g) mild-tasting honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake batter:

• 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (225 g or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 3/4 cups (385 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup (210 g) semisweet chocolate chips

For the vanilla bean glaze:

• 1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups (230 g to 290 g) powdered sugar

For decoration:

• Chocolate pearls, chocolate shavings, or chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Special equipment:

• 12-cup bundt pan (I have this one)

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