Chocolate-pumpkin Marble Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted unsalted peanuts (optional)
• 4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon corn syrup

Recipe

• 1 in a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until well blended; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in vanilla.
• 2 scrape half the mixture into another bowl.
• 3 pumpkin batter: beat pumpkin into half the butter mixture until well blended; in another bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed or fold in with a flexible spatula just until blended.
• 4 chocolate batter: in another bowl, mix remaining 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and the cocoa; add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk to the other half of the butter mixture (starting and ending with flour mixture), beating after each addition just until blended.
• 5 spoon half the pumpkin batter into a buttered and floured 12-cup bundt-cake pan; drop half the chocolate batter by spoonfuls over (but not enterly covering) the pumpkin batter; repeat to spoon remaining pumpkin and chocolate batters into pan.
• 6 gently run the blade of a butter knife around the center of the pan several times, then draw the knife across the width of the pan in 10-12 places to swirl batters.
• 7 bake in a 350° oven until a wood skewer inserted into center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 55-60 minutes.
• 8 let cake cool 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a rack, lift off pan, and cool cake completely before glazing.
• 9 chocolate glaze: in a heat proof bowl or the top of a double boiler, combine semisweet chocolate, whipping cream, butter and corn syrup; bring an inch or two of water to a boil in a pan that the bowl can nest in, or in the bottom of a double boiler, then remove from heat and place the bowl with the chocolate mixture over the water and let it stand, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth, about 10 minutes.
• 10 pour warm chocolate glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides; sprinkle glaze with peanuts if desired.
• 11 let stand until the glaze is set, about 2 hours, or chill 30 minutes.