Tuesday, May 03, 2011

TWD: Basic Marbled Loaf Cake

Or, not so basic. The original recipe is a vanilla/chocolate marble cake. Dorie, however, has to gild the lily just a bit with some other options. There is a peppermint/chocolate version and an orange/chocolate version. Then there was the one that really caught my eye - a cardamom/coffee version. Yum!

This was absolutely a winner cake. It was an easy batter to put together. After the base is mixed, you add flavorings to each half. In my case, I added espresso powder that had been dissolved in water to one half and ground cardamom to the other half. Just a side note here - I used cardamom pods and ground them into powder in my spice grinder (old coffee grinder) The difference between pre-ground and freshly ground cardamom is amazing. The fresh stuff has an amazing taste. I highly recommend this method if you can do it.

Golden brown and delicious!

Instead of a loaf pan, I decided to use my Fiesta Bundt pan. I baked it for exactly one hour, and I think it would have been fine at 50 or so minutes. It seems a tiny bit dry to me. My swirling technique still leaves a bit to be desired, but I did get a good mix of each flavor in each slice.

Not so much a swirl as a clump.

This is a good recipe. I truly enjoyed the mix of flavors. I think if I need a simple cake for some event, this would be one that I would revisit. Thank you Carol of The Bake More for choosing this one!

17 comments:

alvarosa said...

I bet you are one of the few who tried out the cardamom. An that's not "clumps", that's a chess-cake! :o]

Cakelaw said...

Your ciffee and cardamom bundt looks so good!

Valerie Gamine said...

What a cute pan! I love that you went with the cardamom/coffee version...I was hoping someone would. :D

Bella Baker said...

your cake looks beautiful! I was deciding between the cardamon coffee variety and ended up doing chocolate orange! I'm jealous of yours!! :)

Cindy said...

I do love your bundt pan--I'm in love with bundts, I want all of them! I have just started using cardamom, what a fun flavor! My cake was a little over done. Such a fine line between gooey and dry! But dry is easily fixed with a little whipped cream. Have a great day.

Nicole said...

That looks good! I wasn't sure my swirl would turn out but it looked pretty good in the end. I made the chocolate peppermint version.

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

I tried this version, too, and loved it! Awesome bundt pan - I'm sure it was wonderful that way! :)

Pamela said...

I never know what I'm going to get when I try marbling. Each slice is a surprise, right? I've never baked with cardamom before. I have some in the pantry now, so I guess I'd better get to work on that!

Peggy the Baker said...

My husband was lobbying for the coffee/cardamom version but I did the chocolate, white chocolate/mint version. This cake has lots of possibilities!

Unknown said...

I love your little bundt! I tried the coffee-cardamom too and loved it.

Flourchild said...

Oh yum..this looks so pretty! Im glad you enjoyed it! I loved this recipe too!

Joy said...

Your bundt looks beautiful! I love the colors of the cake, too. I'm so glad to hear a recommendation for the coffee-cardamom :)

The Bake More said...

Love the beautiful golden brown color (unlike my crispy burnt edges). Thanks for baking with me... Carol

Peggy said...

Your swirl looks a lot like my swirl! And I love that you used your bundt cake pan.

Anonymous said...

Yum! I had my eye on that flavor combination, so I'm happy to hear it was good!

natalia said...

Ciao ! I love your fiesta pan ! And the comnbo !

Kayte said...

That is so pretty in that pan! Wow...I would not have thought to use a shaped pan, but it is perfect for that...and fun! The flavor combinations sound nice as well.