I always forget how much I enjoy making cake from scratch until I make cake from scratch. We were having a birthday in the family, and I was in charge of making a cake. The request had been for marble- so I hunted and flipped through cookbooks looking for a really good recipe for a marble type of cake. I found one in Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I should have known that Dorie would come through on a cake for me, but it wasn’t until I actually slid my fork into a slice that I remembered just how wonderful homemade cake is. I have made many a homemade cake over the years, but in the last few months, my cake-bakery has been little to none. In fact, for Zander’s birthday, he requested cake flavors from a mix, so I let him choose mixes and just used that. And of course, I regretted the boxy flavor later on, but it was what he wanted.
But as I took the first bite of Mocha-Walnut Marble Bundt Cake I regretted all the cakes I’ve made recently from a box. Those boxed versions can’t hold a candle to how delicious a homemade cake is. I especially love the texture of homemade cake. It’s much more dense than boxed cake- yet still moist (if done right) and so packed full of flavor.
This particular cake did something a little different. At first, I discarded the idea of a walnut cake- It sounded homey to me- but not quite what I was looking for, but when I further read the recipe and saw that the walnuts were actually ground up, I was intrigued. Walnut flavor without large chunks of nut just begging to get caught in your teeth? It had promise, and I decided I had found my marble cake. When I started to make my shopping list, I realized that I had almost everything on hand- except walnuts and chocolate. Well, for the walnuts, I remembered the whole nuts we had floating around and determined that I would have more than enough if I took the time to crack my own nuts. And for the chocolate, I went back and forth on whether it would be worth a trip for just 3 ounces of bittersweet chocolate. I determined that it wasn’t and settled on using 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead.
The batter came together very easily. I used my hand mixer and it wasn’t long before I was pouring the white batter into my pan, followed by the chocolate batter. I baked it for 65 minutes, but I’ll suggest to you that if you make this cake- check it around 62 minutes or so. I think it was just a slight touch overbaked, and so I would check it just a minute or two early next time. In the end, I also opted for a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The frosting was good, but I think next time I will use a fudge glaze instead. There will most definitely be a next time. The mocha and the walnut played together so wonderfully- I would take a bite of the walnut cake and then a bite of the mocha cake. So tasty, so easy, and once again I am reminded of the delight of homemade cake.
Mocha-Walnut Marble Bundt Cake
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup ground walnuts 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 sticks plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, room temperature 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate 1/4 cup coffee 1 teaspoon espresso powder 1 3/4 cups sugar 4 large eggs, room temperature 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup milk, room temperatureDirections:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 to 10 inch bundt pan, dust inside with flour, and tap out the excess.
Whisk flour, ground walnuts, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Combine 2 tablespoons butter, chocolate, coffee, and espresso powder in a metal bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water and stir until melted and combined. Remove from heat.
Combine remaining 2 sticks of butter and sugar in a stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment on medium speed for about 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add in vanilla extract.
Add in flour mixture and milk in five alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix on low speed after each addition just until combined.
Scrape just under half of the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and fold gently to combine.
Pour the vanilla batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Pour the chocolate batter on top. Use a knife to lightly marble the batter.
Bake for 65-70 minutes until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes before un-molding.