This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Erin of When in Doubt…Leave it at 350 (a clever blog name, don’t you think?): mocha-walnut marbled bundt cake! Bundt cakes are great – low maintenance in that they don’t require frosting and so easy to transport, which is a key factor for me with desserts since I give away just about everything I bake. My biggest decision this week was whether to scale the recipe back or not. I’d made mini bundts last week and was reminded of how much I hate cleaning my mini bundt pan (it’s nearly impossible to get in all of the tiny cracks and crevices), so easy decision to go with the full size bundt cake!
Though this cake created a mountain of dishes, it’s not difficult to whip up. Walnuts are ground and mixed with the dry ingredients but otherwise, the vanilla portion of the cake is pretty standard – butter and sugar are creamed, eggs and vanilla extract added and finally the dry ingredients are added alternately with milk. Originally, I’d figured I would skip the walnuts since I don’t like them, but I planned to give the cake away and I had walnuts on hand, so I ended up using them. A little less than half of the vanilla cake batter is added to a bowl containing a mixture of bittersweet chocolate, butter, instant espresso powder and coffee. We don’t drink coffee and don’t even own a coffee pot, so I substituted water for the coffee along with a dash of cocoa powder. The vanilla cake batter goes in the bottom of the pan and is then topped with the chocolate batter; a knife is used to gently swirl the two in the hopes of creating a marbled effect. The baking time for my cake was 60 minutes.
I was excited to cut into my cake and see how it looked. Generally, I don’t have great luck marbling so I had no idea if the inside would be pretty like Dorie’s. It wasn’t, but I still liked it! I think I probably added too much of the vanilla batter to my chocolate mixture because the chocolate portion of my cake seemed to dominate. I saved one slice to try before passing the rest along to Shane’s dad and I loved it!! This is one tasty cake! Since the walnuts are ground finely they really didn’t bother me. The cake was incredibly moist, especially the chocolate portion. I topped my slice with some chocolate sauce but this cake is definitely good enough to stand on its own. Many thanks to Erin for hosting this week! You can find the recipe on her blog or on pages 180-181 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Your cake looks great! Mine didn’t swirl much either. Yum, it looks great with a chocolate drizzle. I loved this!
mmm looks delish!!
The marbling looks great! I love that there’s ground walnuts in there, too. Also, you reminded me that I need a new bundt pan!
Mine just came out of the oven. Can’t wait to cut into it! Yours looks fabulous. I always worry about splitting a batter.
Looks like your marbling skills are perfect. Cake is absolutely beautiful.
Your cake looks delicious!
That first photo is gorgeous, Tracey! I’d say your marbling is perfect!
Your cake looks delicious. I don’t have much luck with marbling a lot of times, but they always taste good and get eaten :o)
love those pictures. your cake looks so yummy!
i made the coconut tea cake on Easter, just posted it. I used grapefruit and loved it!
I love that first photo! Your cake looks great!
The marbling looks fabulous. I love the last photo. Well done!
Great bundt cake!!!
Your marbling looks great! Love the chocolate!
nice swirl, it looks like a weeping willow tree to me
Beautiful Marbling on your cake! I like how the choc is all on the inside. nice job this week.
i think the swirl looks good! glad you enjoyed it
Beautiful! I’m sure everyone enjoyed this one.
Somehow I always tend to overdo the marbling… This time it looked sort of okay in my cupcakes though!!
your cake looks amazing and I think your marbling looks gorgeous!!! I am making this one this weekend (I made the coconut cake this week!)
I really think your marbling looks perfect. We’re on the same page again this week – after using my mini-pans last week, I went for the full-size this week. (And then dropped the full cake on the floor, oops.)
Your cake is beautiful, Tracey – fabulous marbling! I loved this cake. I think the ground nuts made it a little rustic without turning it into a nutty cake. Glad it was a hit!
Another winner, I have a new bundt pan on the way and will make it when it arrives. Glad you had success without coffee, we are a coffee free home so I will make the chocolate version. Beautiful photo, as usual. I go to your blog often to get recipes and new ideas. Thanks!
I love marbled cake and this one looks worthy of being displayed in a pastry shop! (love the walnuts in it too)
Your pictures are awe-inspiring 🙂 It makes me want to give this one another go!!
The fiance even ate a FEW slices of this cake. Can you believe it?! a FEW! I can’t even get him to TRY most of the stuff I bake. So I knew this was good 🙂
So pretty, inside and out…and I have to say, I like it every bit as much as Dorie’s…it has a great style! I am the opposite, the bundts in my large pan always stick and the ones in my little ones don’t, so I would much rather make it in my little pans.
Your cakes looks awesome. I would say you are a master at marbling.
How beautiful! The marbling looks excellent!
That looks great, Tracey! I like the way your marbling turned out–mine was more of a blob shape in the middle. =) I have to agree, bundt cakes are great for sharing.
Your cake looks so pretty! I added way too much batter to the chocolate portion, yours looks perfect.
I thought this was a great cake, but I also got rid of it – too tempting to have around.
Tracey, your pictures are just gorgeous! The cake looks delicious, and I love the drizzle of chocolate that you added — yum!
Wow your marbling look perfect and your cake so yummy! Great job Tracey. I enjoyed this recipe too and Im glad I made muffins!
That slice of cake looks delicious. You can tell right away from looking at it that it’s moist and tender. Love the choc glaze on top!
I think your cake looks great! I so need help on my marbling, but since I made minis, it was especially hard.
Mmm!
Just a quick note, this was a hit as well! Another couple of birthdays being celebrated here, so it was up against a store bought strawberry shortcake (no competition!).
I didnt read the recipe till after I tried it, but I noticed it was chocolatey, but didnt notice the mocha? NOW I know why lol! Very good chocolate flavor. Also a very dense cake! Didnt take much more than a sliver with a cup of coffee in the afternoon to necessitate bumping dinner an hour or so! Thanks again from all of us.
Your cake looks great. Thanks for baking with me this week.
looks great…i think your marble is beautiful!
I think your marbling is very pretty – nice job!
You got the marbling effect down pat!! Great job <3
I am going to make all of your bundt cakes. I will try 1 a month. I can’t wait. They all look so delicious.