Vanilla-Fudge Marble Cake

To me, baking is a stress reliever. So since the past couple of days have been so stressful (my little man is super-sick), I decided to try a new recipe last night. It turned out great, so I wanted to share the recipe with everyone.

So here's what you need: 3/4 c. softened butter, 2 eggs, 2 3/4 c. flour, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 c. sugar, 2 tsp. vanilla, 1 1/4 c. buttermilk, 2/3 c. chocolate flavored syrup (I used Nestle-Quik).

1. Let eggs and butter sit out until room temperature(about 30-45 min.). In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Put aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 30 seconds until soft. Add in sugar and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating mixture for one minute between. Alternately add flour and buttermilk, mixing on low speed until all ingredients are combined. Put aside 2 cups of batter. Pour remaining batter into a greased, floured bundt pan.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix the 2 c. batter with chocolate syrup until completely combined. Pour chocolate batter over vanilla batter, but do not mix.

4. Put in pre-heated oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes, then flip over onto a plate. Let cool another 15 minutes.

5. After cake is cooled, you can drizzle with chocolate syrup or make your own chocolate syrup with the following recipe.

Chocolate Icing: In a saucepan, melt together 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate pieces, 2 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. light corn syrup, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla over low heat. Stir constantly. When mixture is smooth, drizzle over cake.

ENJOY!