Neapolitan Marble Bundt Cake

This recipe is inspired by that classic ice cream, the Neapolitan, in a dense pound cake, with a mix of chocolate, vanilla and raspberry. Baked in a Braided Bundt Pan, the outside of the cake stays distinct in its separation of colours while on the inside the batters naturally swirl together giving a classic marble cake look without any actual swirling. For a little extra sparkle, the cake is brushed with a thin icing sugar glaze for a stunning display! 

Recipe developed by Edd Kimber in celebration of Nordic Ware’s 75^th Anniversary.

Ingredients:

Base Batter:

• 340g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 450g caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Batter:

• 85g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 3 Tbsp (40ml) sour cream

White Chocolate and Raspberry Batter:

• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 80ml sour cream
• 75g white chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 Tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder
• A little red gel food colouring

Vanilla Glaze: 

• 150g icing sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• Small pinch of salt.

Method:

Prepare Braided Bundt Pan by brushing with softened butter and dusting with a thin layer of flour or prepare with baking spray containing flour.

Place the white chocolate into a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water and heat, stirring occasionally, until fully melted. Remove from the heat and set aside whilst you prepare the cake.

Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl and using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating until fully combined before adding another. Finish by briefly mixing in the vanilla.

Scrape one third of the batter into a separate bowl (top tip: weigh the bowl you want to make the batter in before you start. This way you can simply weigh the bowl with the batter, deduct the bowl weight and then can easily find the weight of the batter). To this third add the ingredients for the chocolate batter, mixing until a smooth cake batter is formed. Into the remaining two thirds add everything for the white chocolate and raspberry batters, except the melted chocolate, raspberry powder and food colouring, mixing to form a smooth cake batter. Take this batter and divide again into two equal portions. To one mix through the melted chocolate and to the other mix in the raspberry powder and a little food colouring to make a vibrant pink.

To portion the batter into the pan, you have two choices: spoon the batters into the pan trying to keep each batter neatly inside each section of the pan, alternating the colours as you go, or if you want the neatest possible finish, you can use piping bags. Whichever method you choose, add the batter in slowly, little by little, gradually increasing the height, which will help ensure a clean design on the outside of the cake. You can of course simply dollop in the batter in a random fashion if you want to keep things simple.

Before you bake the cake give the pan a couple sharp taps on the work surface so that the batter fills every nook and cranny of the pan. Pop the cake into the oven for about 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven and set onto a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before inverting the cake and allowing it to cool fully. If you are opting to make the vanilla glaze make this before turning the cake out and use as soon as the cake has been removed from the pan whilst still hot.

Add the icing sugar, 2 Tbsp of milk, the vanilla and salt to a small bowl and mix together to make a smooth glaze. The finished texture wants to be on the thin side and fairly runny, you may need to add another 1/2 Tbsp of milk to get to this texture.

Whilst the cake is still hot from the oven use a pastry brush to coat the cake in the glaze. I add the glaze now as the heat from the cake makes the glaze set and turn slightly translucent almost like the glaze on a classic ring doughnut.

Serve once fully cooled. The finished cake will keep for 2-3 days if kept well covered.

Find more recipes from Edd over on his blog www.theboywhobakes.co.uk