Halloween “Witches” Marble Cake
As you’ve probably noticed, I don’t go overboard with Halloween food. Yes, I go crazy with pumpkin flavored things, but that extends throughout the fall well past Halloween. Anyway, this year my daughter and I had a blast with all of our favorite Halloween crafts. When it was time to bake we decided on a simple orange and brown swirl cake which we called “Witches Cake.” The idea came from the thin chocolate lines which reminded us of creepy trees, and the dark chocolate glaze flecked with gold.
The base of this loaf is a simple cream cheese loaf cake. Then I colored half of the batter with dark dutch process cocoa and the other half with a drop of orange food paste. Once they were swirled together I baked it straight away and made the ganache. Overall this was the perfect Halloween baking activity. We got to make a delicious cake and eat it too!
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
- Orange food paste
- Glaze:
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low, beat in the flour and baking powder.
- Divide the dough evenly between two separate bowls. In one, mix the cocoa powder. In the second, beat two or three drop of orange food pasta.
- Dollop the batter into the prepared loaf pan in a random pattern. Once it is all in, use a thin knife to swirl it together once or twice. Don't overswirl. Bake the bread for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. Bake until the bread is done and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the loaf pan for five minutes. Then invert it onto a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
- While it is cooling making the glaze: In a microwave-proof bowl add the cream, chocolate, and corn syrup. Heat it in 30-second intervals until the chocolate is melted and everything can be stirred together until completely smooth. Drizzle over the cake once it has cooled. Slice and serve.
