Chocolate Chip Marbled Bundt Cake

I sat down the other day with every intention to make chocolate cake with white chocolate chips.  Thought I'd quickly see if I could find a nice recipe for one online, and after pursuing blogs for about 30 minutes...well, we ended up with a Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake.  The cake turned out to be quite pretty with beautiful chocolate swirls.  It has a dense almost velvety texture, and is not overly sweet surprisingly.  I actually think it would work as a Sunday morning coffee cake after mass just as well as an after dinner delight.  And just like wine this cake needs to aerate a bit. The texture improves as it cools, so wait until it cools to take it out of the pan.  My husband and I found we thought it was actually better the second day than the first.  Which makes this perfect for those dinner parties and work birthdays when you want to bake ahead of time.

I found this recipe off of the blog a Piece of Cake http://shaunasever.com/2010/02/stupid-delicious.html -

Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hour Serves: 12 to 16

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cup  semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided

2 2/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

Mix 1/2 cup semi sweet chocoalte chips, 1/2 cup water, and corn syrup.  Heat in microwave until chocolatechips are melted.  Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Set aside.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl cream the butter with the remaining sugar until light in color and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining vanilla.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in a third of the flour mixture just until the flour begins to disappear into the batter. Beat in half the milk. Beat in another third of the flour, then the rest of the milk, and finish with the remaining flour until the batter is smooth. Stop the mixer and gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop out a third of the batter into a medium bowl, whisk in the chocolate syrup and set aside. Pour another third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth it with a spatula. Pour the chocolate batter into the pan evenly over the first layer. Finish by pouring the last third of the vanilla batter over the top. Lightly swirl the batters with a wooden skewer or knife to give a “marble” effect–a continuous figure-8 motion while going around the pan works well.

Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly when touched, about 60-70 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving if desired. Store any leftovers in a cake dome at room temperature for 4-5 days, maybe more.