Yom Kippur, the
Day of Atonement, is the most important holiday in the Jewish calendar. This holiday involves fasting, but at the end of the holiday there's a
Breaking of the Fast that usually involves a big feast.
Chocolate Marble Coffee Cake is perfect for the
Breaking of the Fast. The following recipe includes butter and sour cream, so if you're bringing something for the Breaking of the Fast, check to see if your hosts are Kosher and whether or not they're planning a meat or dairy meal. Everyone else, this is a
fabulous chocolate marble coffee cake for just about any time! It even tastes great sliced and toasted for breakfast!
This recipe is adapted from
Carole Walter's recipe for Chocolate Ripple Coffee Cake in Fine Cooking, October 29, 2008. You're going to love it! It's one of my favorite go-to recipes! I'll bet you have most of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge. This coffee cake also freezes well, too.
CHOCOLATE MARBLE COFFEE CAKE
INGREDIENTS
For the cake:
3 cups sifted cake flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, slightly softened
1-1/2 cups superfine sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream
For the filling:
1/2 cup toasted pecans
6 oz coarsely chopped dark chocolate (64-75% cacao)
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
3 Tbsp Dutch-processed or natural cocoa powder (Tip: Natural vs Dutch-processed)
For the streusel topping:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
DIRECTIONS
Position rack in center of oven -- 350ºF.
Butter and flour 10-inch
tube pan with removable bottom.
Make topping:
In 2-quart saucepan, heat butter over medium heat until
almost melted. Remove from heat and cool to tepid. In medium bowl,
combine flour, pecans, both sugars, cinnamon, baking powder, and
salt, and stir with fork. Add flour mixture to butter and stir
until evenly moistened and crumbly.
Make filling:
In food processor, pulse pecans, chopped chocolate, both
sugars, and cocoa until chocolate is finely chopped, 12 to 14
pulses. Set aside 1/2 cup of mixture as additional topping.
Make cake:
In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and
salt. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment,
beat butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add sugar slowly, beating until combined. Scrape bowl. Beat in
eggs one at a time, blending each one completely before adding each. Scrape bowl and blend in vanilla. On low speed, alternate
adding dry ingredients and sour cream, adding flour in four
parts and sour cream in three parts, beginning and ending with flour, and scraping bowl as needed.
Layer and marble batter and filling: Spoon 2
cups of batter into prepared pan. Smooth with back of big spoon, spreading batter to side of pan first and then to center. Sprinkle 1/2 cup filling evenly over batter. Cover filling with about 2 cups batter, dropping chunks
around pan and smoothing with spoon. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup
filling evenly over batter and cover with 2 more cups batter. Layer
on another 1/2 cup filling and then remaining batter. (four layers of batter and three layers of filling.) Insert table
knife 1 inch from side of pan straight into batter going
almost to bottom. Run knife around pan two times, without
lifting up blade, spacing circles about 1 inch apart. Smooth top with the back of spoon.
Top and bake the cake: Take a handful of streusel crumbs and squeeze firmly to form a
large mass. Break up mass into smaller clumps, distributing
streusel evenly over batter. Repeat with remaining streusel.
Clump reserved chocolate filling mixture together with your hands
and sprinkle over streusel. Press both toppings lightly into surface of cake. Bake until top of cake is golden brown, sides are beginning to pull away from pan, and skewer
inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 70 to 75 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack and let cool for an hour before
removing from pan.
