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
- Preheat your oven to 350F/175C. Grease a 9 inch/23 cm loaf pan.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy – you can use a pastry knife , spoon, or hand mixer.
- Add the eggs, sour cream, milk, and vanilla, and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until you have a smooth, thick, consistent batter.
- Reserve one cup of the batter, and pour the remaining batter into your greased pan.
- Mix the cocoa powder into the reserved batter cup until thoroughly combined. Then, spoon the cocoa batter over the other batter in the pan.
- 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.
- 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!
2 Comments