Marble Pound Cake

Let's talk on the real now.  I go to the gym.  I "run." (<< flail miserably on the treadmill).  I stair-master like no one's business.  I can hold plank with the best of them.  But I also buy several pounds of butter a week.

What I mean to say is, while I very much enjoy baked goods, I like to think that I maintain a certain level of cardiovascular fitness.  So naturally I can handle a class at the gym that involved intervals of jumping rope and weight lifting, no?

Well, no.  I can not handle it.  It's a day later and I'm still not handling it.  I think I died a little bit in that class.  My legs were and still are jello.  You cannot mentally prepare yourself for a class called Rope Rage.

So naturally when one's legs feel like jello, one decides baking a pound cake is the only solution.  A delicious, rich, chocolatey solution.  Thick slices and a tall glass of milk are necessary with this pound cake.  Jello legs are optional.  

Here's the recipe!  

Marble Pound Cake
yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients

2 cups plus 2 Tablespooons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, place the pan on top of a sheet pan. Set aside.

2.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3.  Working with a stand or hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar and beat another 2 minutes, until well incorporated and fluffy.  Scrape the bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. The batter may start to look curdled but that's ok.  Scrape the bowl and beat in the vanilla extract.  

4.  Reduce speed to low and alternately add the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Place half of the batter in a separate bowl and fold in melted chocolate (so you have two batters, one chocolate and one vanilla).  

5.  Alternately drop dollops of batter into the loaf pan until you have no batter left.  Plunge a butter knife into the batter, making a zig-zag pattern from one end of the pan to the other.  Only one zig zag is necessary to make a marbled batter.   

6.  Bake in the center of the oven for 40 minutes uncovered. Rotate pan and cover loosely with foil and continue to bake another 30-40 minutes, until the vanilla batter on top is golden brown, the top is cracked, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before turning out of the pan and cooling completely.  Allow to cool completely before wrapping well with plastic to store.  

Enjoy!  

Recipe barely adapted by Hungry Girl Por Vida