During my hunt for some recipe ideas and suggestions for banana bread, I came across a Marble Cake with White Chocolate Glaze recipe in The Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. It looked really, really good, so I decided to make it – with my own variations, of course.
I’ve also been into miniaturising recipes for full-size quick breads, because mini-sized ones are easier to distribute, and most of my baking gets given away.
Marble Loaf
1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 c cake flour (not self-rising)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c buttermilk, at room temperature
1/4 c + 1 tbs cocoa powder
1/4 c + 2 tbs boiling water
1. Preheat the oven to 350oF. Generously butter a loaf pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, bakingg soda and salt and set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour. Set aside 1/3 of the batter.
4. In a bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Stir into the smaller portion of the cake batter and mix until well-combined.
5. Spoon the 1/3 of the white batter into the prepared loaf pan. Then make a checkerboard pattern on top with the remaining white batter and the chocolate batter. Run a knife through to create a marbled pattern.
6. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Glaze.
White Chocolate Glaze
3/4 c sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tbs buttermilk
2 1/4 oz melted and cooled white chocolate
Whisk together the buttermilk and sugar. Sitr in the white chocolate and mix until smooth.
