Light Marble Pound Cake Food

PLAIN POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper.
• Cream the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the eggs, 1 at a time.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
• When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes. Take them out of the pans, place them on a baking rack and allow them to cool completely. Wrap well, and store in the refrigerator.

STARBUCKS MARBLE POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Adjust rack one-third up from bottom of oven; preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 10 by 4 inch tube pan. Line the bottom with a circle of wax paper cut to fit; grease the paper, then lightly flour the entire inside of the pan (including the tube), knocking out any excess. Set aside. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Melt the chopped chocolate in microwave or stove; set aside.
• Fit a stand mixer with paddle beater, if available. In large mixer bowl, beat softened butter at medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat at a low speed until incorporated, then scrape beater(s) and bowl with rubber spatula (repeat this scraping often throughout the mixing process to ensure complete blending of ingredients). Increase speed to medium; beat for 3 full minutes. At a low speed, add eggs, two at a time. When all eggs have been added, increase speed to medium once more; beat for 1 minute (mixture may look curdled now - OK).
• At lowest speed, add about half of sifted dry ingredients, mixing only until blended. Add orange liqueur. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix in, then remove bowl from mixer and fold in lemon zest with large spatula. Note: This is a large amount of thick, heavy batter. It may be necessary to increase mixer speed slightly to get dry ingredients to incorporate. I always end up removing the bowl from the mixer before the last of the dry ingredients are blended in completely, adding the lemon zest, then folding everything together with a large, sturdy rubber spatula. Batter may still look slightly curdled at this point - OK.
• Measure out a generous 4 cups of the batter and set aside. To remaining batter in mixer bowl, add the melted chocolate (which may still be slightly warm) all at once; whisk in with large, sturdy whisk.
• Place alternating spoonfuls of dark and light batters into prepared pan. To level batter in pan, grasp pan on opposite sides with both hands; twist briskly in short, back-and-forth motions. To marble, run a knife in a circular motion all around the batter in several concentric circles, going almost down to the bottom of the pan (don't overdo the marbling). With back of a large spoon, push batter slightly higher onto pan edges and tube, leaving a "trench" in the middle.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes. Turn pan back-to-front once about halfway through baking time. If top of cake begins to become too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the crack that will form all around the top emerges with a few moist crumbs still clinging to it. Do not overbake! My experience with this cake is that it will pull away from the sides of the pan only after it is removed from the oven.
• Remove to cooling rack; allow to stand 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully loosen cake from pan edges and tube; invert onto another cooling rack (be careful! This is a large, tall cake). Re-invert to cool completely right side up. When completely cool, store airtight. Allow to stand at least overnight before serving. To cut, use a large, sharp, serrated knife.

FABULOUS MARBLE POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• Spray an 8" X 4" bread pan with non-stick cooking spray and line the pan with parchment paper. Spray the paper.
• Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter with the cocoa and blend until smooth.
• Using a food processor, mix the softened butter with the granulated sugar. When combined, add eggs and vanilla and continue to process until creamy. Add the dry ingredients and pulse until JUST combined. Finally, add cream and process until smooth. Add 1 cup of this batter to the bowl with the cocoa and stir until smooth.
• Pour half of the remaining batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Spread the chocolate batter in the pan and then top with the rest of the batter. Using a butter knife, decoratively cut 5 swirls in the batter.
• Bake for 25 minutes at 350°. Reduce the temperature to 325° and bake for an additional 25 minutes. Loosely cover with foil and bake 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Let the pound cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

OLD-FASHIONED MARBLE BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• For the vanilla batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with the baking spray.
• Combine the butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, vanilla and oil in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed for 4 minutes. Stop and scrape the bowl and paddle with a rubber spatula. Add 2 of the eggs at a time, beating on medium speed for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape the bowl.
• Add half of the cake flour and mix on low speed just until combined. Add the cream and buttermilk and mix again on low speed just until combined. Scrape the bowl.
• Add the remaining cake flour and start mixing on low speed to combine, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 4 minutes.
• For the chocolate batter: Transfer 2 cups of the vanilla batter to a medium bowl. Add the cocoa, sugar and baking powder and stir with a fork or small whisk until completely combined. Add the hot water and stir slowly until completely combined.
• Pour about half of the vanilla batter into the prepared pan. Dollop about half of the chocolate batter on top. Repeat with the remaining vanilla and chocolate batters. Run a skewer or butter knife through the pan to slightly swirl the 2 batters together.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 65 to 70 minutes. The cake will rise to fill the pan and will settle slightly once removed from the oven. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE SWIRL MARBLE POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F Grease a 10" tube pan.
• Beat sugar and butter until blended; then increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add flour and remaining ingredients EXCEPT cocoa. Beat at low speed until well mixed, scraping bowl often; then increase to high and beat 4 minutes longer, scraping bowl as needed.
• Scoop out 2 1/2 cups of batter into a small bowl. Whisk in cocoa powder.
• Alternately spoon vanilla and chocolate batters into prepared tube pan. Using a knife, cut and twist through batter to create a marble effect.
• Bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then run a spatula or knife around the pan to loosen the cake. Remove cake and cook on a wire rack.

LIGHT MARBLE POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 10-inch tube pan. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a bowl until thoroughly combined.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and vegetable shortening together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in 3 cups of sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition, then beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating each in well before adding the next. Beat in the applesauce until the liquid ingredients are smooth. Mix in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, and stir in vanilla extract and lemon juice.
• In a bowl, stir the cocoa powder, 1/4 cup of sugar, and water until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is smooth. Pour about 3/4 cup of the pound cake batter into the chocolate mixture, and stir to combine. Pour the remaining vanilla cake batter into the prepared tube pan, then pour the chocolate batter over the vanilla batter. With a spoon handle or butter knife, swirl the two batters together a few times (don't overmix) to create a marbled effect.
• Bake the cake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, and the sides of the cake pull slightly away from the pan, 70 to 80 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake and remove from the pan onto the wire rack to finish cooling completely.