Marble Cake

A quick recipe for you, right before Rosh HaShanah, for a classic favorite: marble cake. This cake was originally German, and shows up in the 19th century with a mix of gingerbread and vanilla cakes. The chocolate version came a little later in the same century, when cocoa powder became available on the mass market. German Jews brought the cake to both the United States and Israel – where it became a fan favorite in Jewish communities. For many Jews of my generation, marble cake is a quintessentially Jewish dessert, consumed at synagogues, semachot, and other events.

It seems hard, but this cake is actually quite easy to make. I hope you enjoy it, and Happy New Year! Shana tova umetukah!

Marble Cake (Marmorkuchen)

Makes 10-18 servings, depending on how big you cut

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened, plus more to grease the pan

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tbsp sour cream

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups white flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F/175C. Grease a 9 inch/23 cm loaf pan.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy – you can use a pastry knife , spoon, or hand mixer.
  3. Add the eggs, sour cream, milk, and vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined.
  4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until you have a smooth, thick, consistent batter.
  5. Reserve one cup of the batter, and pour the remaining batter into your greased pan.
  6. Mix the cocoa powder into the reserved batter cup until thoroughly combined. Then, spoon the cocoa batter over the other batter in the pan.
  7. Use a chopstick or knife to swirl the batters together until you get a marble effect – I run a chopstick back and forth in the pan several times to do this.
  8. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

Thank you to my classmates for participating in User Acceptance Testing!

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