Chocolate and Almond Marbled Bundt Cake

I must confess that the image below is actually 'take two' of this Bundt cake. The first one I baked didn't come out of the tin in one piece and looked too sad for me to take a picture of it. On the plus side, it still tasted good - looked disappointing, but tasted mighty good. It was actually finished on the same night it was baked, so that gave me the confidence to try again and not follow the instructions given to me by BBC Good Food. Now a Bundt cake is a type of cake that is baked in a Bundt tin. They have a hole in the middle, like a doughnut, but the outside design can be of anything. I've seen trees, diamonds, stars and swirls. It's these little designs in the tin that make it difficult to remove the cake from the tin. You need to grease and flour that thing so that the release is swift and whole. This wasn't even my first time making a Bundt cake, I made one last Christmas and I was surprised at how well the release went. What made me forget to flour the tin, I do not know. What then possessed me to follow the instructions and turn it out of the tin ten minutes after being out of the oven, I haven't got a clue! When I made the Christmas Bundt I waited until it was completely cool. So when I made mark two of my chocolate and almond Bundt cake, I waited for it to cool, to completely pull away from the tin, and gently it dropped onto the serving plate. This recipe does create a very light cake and I think that's why it finished in one night. You have one slice; inhale it and it's gone. I also think that's why it fell apart; some Bundt cakes can be quite dense so that they can stay together. But there is no specific recipe that is a Bundt cake, you could make a black forest gateau in a Bundt tin, and it will automatically be deemed a Bundt cake - it's all about the tin. I advise you to use a 1.5-litre Bundt tin or one that can take recipes with 4 or more eggs. My one is a 4-egg recipe 23cm tin. There is nothing stopping you from baking this cake in a normal tin, you will still get the same delicious and weightless cake, but without the grandeur of the tin or its name. 

To start this cake, I creamed butter and sugar in a standalone mixer until it was light and creamy.

While this was creaming, I put all the dry ingredients into a separate bowl: flour, baking powder and ground almonds. 

In the creamed bowl, I added almond extract and an egg. 

I let the egg mix in and then added a couple of tablespoons of the dry ingredients mixture. 

I repeated this egg-flour process until all three of the eggs were added. The rest of the dry ingredients were folded into the batter along with some milk.

And now to get to the chocolate portion of our programme. In a small container, I mixed equal parts of cocoa powder and hot water from a freshly boiled kettle.

When I mixed them together, they formed a thick chocolate paste. 

Half of the almond cake batter was spooned into a separate bowl.

The chocolate paste was then mixed into this half to create a mixture that smelled gloriously chocolatey and almondy. 

Don't worry, the almond cake batter was not neglected. I poured in some chocolate chips to add another layer of chocolatey goodness and gently folded them in. 

Once the two batters were complete, I put all my attention into prepping the tin. 

I melted around 30g of butter and left it to cool slightly because I didn't want it to burn my hands. I then took a sheet of kitchen towel and soaked it in the butter. Using this soaked piece of kitchen towel, I wiped the inside of the Bundt tin making sure to get all the crevices.

You can see that I added so much butter that the tin was shining - it's better to be safe than sorry. And to be extra safe, I lightly dusted the tin with plain flour. It was then ready for the batters.

I alternately dropped spoons of the chocolate batter and the chocolate chip batter around the tin.

Taking the handle of a tablespoon, I dragged it through the cake to create the marbled effect inside. I made sure not to over-drag so that the two batters didn't mix together fully. I then used the back of a tablespoon to smooth the top of the mixture. 

This was then placed into a 180-degree oven to bake for 40 minutes. I checked to see if it was ready by placing a knife in the middle. It came out clean, so I was confident that it was ready. Depending on the size of your tin, it may need less or more time, so take a look after 30 minutes. The smell of sweet almond in the house is also a good indicator. 

The second time around, I left it in the tin like in the picture above until it was completely cool. When it was time to take it out, I gently pushed down the edges of the cake and around the inner circle to coax it out, and with a couple of taps, it plopped out the tin nicely. 

Yes, I had a mini celebration in the kitchen with my sisters. It felt so good bringing out this cake whole and I was pleased with myself that I didn't give up on ever making Bundt cakes (trust me, I was close). So, in the words of the beautiful Aaliyah, "if at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again".

Serves: 6-10 people 

Prep Time: 20 minutes 

Baking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 180g Unsalted Butter, softened 
• 225g Caster Sugar
• 180g Plain Flour 
• 2tsp Baking Powder
• 75g Ground Almonds
• 3/4tsp Almond Extract 
• 3 Eggs, at room temperature
• 2tbsp Milk, at room temperature
• 3tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 3tbsp Hot Water 
• 100g Dark Chocolate Chips
• 30g Unsalted Butter, melted
• 1tsp Plain Flour

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and boil some water in the kettle. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder and ground almonds. 
3. Back in the creamed bowl, add in the almond extract and an egg. Mix them in and add a couple of tablespoons of the dry ingredients incorporating them into the batter. Repeat this egg, flour, egg process until you have added all your eggs. Fold in the rest of the dry ingredients, and pour and mix in the milk. 
4. Using the hot water from the freshly boiled kettle, whisk the cocoa powder and hot water together to form a thick paste. 
5. Take half of the almond cake batter and place it into a separate bowl. Add the chocolate paste into it and mix it in fully to make a chocolate almond cake batter. Fold in the dark chocolate chips into the remaining almond cake batter to form a chocolate chip almond cake batter. 
6. Melt the 30g of butter and then using a square of kitchen towel, carefully grease the inside of the Bundt tin. You can also use a baking brush to do this. Take about a teaspoon of plain flour and dust the inside of the Bundt tin. Tap out any remaining flour. 
7. Take the two cake batters and add spoonfuls of each alternately around the Bundt tin. Taking the handle of a tablespoon, drag the batters together to form a marbled effect. And then use the back of a tablespoon to smooth the top of the cake.
8. Place into the oven to bake for about 40 minutes. Check to see that the cake is ready by placing a skewer, knife or toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, then the cake is ready. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out. Slice up and enjoy.