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CHOCOLATE MARBLE CAKE WITH SHINNY CHOCOLATE GLAZE

The trick to creating the marbled look in this chocolate cake is to gently drag the chocolate batter through the yellow batter with a knife until the batter is just swirled.  This not only looks great, but tastes great as well.  The secret ingredient:  almond! 

Cake:
Vegetable oil spray for misting pan
Flour for dusting the pan
1 plain yellow cake mix (no pudding)
1 cup sour cream
½ cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon water

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly mist a 10-inch tube pan with vegetable spray and then dust with flour.
  2. Place cake mix, sour cream, oil, melted butter, eggs, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until well blended.
  3. Melt semisweet chocolate with the milk and water in a small pan over medium heat, stirring often until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Cool slightly.
  4. Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing out with a rubber spatula.  Drop the chocolate mixture by spoonfuls over the batter.  Marble the batter by swirling the chocolate lightly through it with a knife.  Place the pan in the oven.
  5. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 40-50 minutes.  Remove pan from the oven and cool on a rack for 20 minutes.
  6. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then invert it again onto a serving platter so that it is right side up.  Pour the chocolate glaze over the top of the cake and let it drizzle down the sides.  Allow the cake to cool completely before serving, about 30 minutes.

Frosting
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
  2. Add cocoa powder and cream and stir until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes.  Do not boil.
  3. Remove pan from stove and stir in the sugar and vanilla until smooth.