Mocha Marble Loaf Cake with Espresso Glaze
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Serves: 9 x 5 pan
 
Ingredients
For the cake...
  • .25 c unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 t instant espresso or coffee crystals
  • .75 c butter, softened (1.5 sticks)
  • 1.5 c sugar
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1.5 c flour
  • .5 t baking powder
  • .25 t baking soda
  • .5 c fat-free sour cream (I mean, fat-free if you even care about the fat at this point)
  • 3 T hot water
For the glaze...
  • 1 T butter
  • 2 t instant espresso or coffee crystals
  • 1 T hot water
  • 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ⅓ c powdered sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350, and spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan (or the smaller pans, referenced in the post) with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the cocoa powder, and espresso or coffee crystals, and set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, place the softened butter, and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar, and beat until fluffy; add the vanilla and eggs, and beat until incorporated.
  4. Add half the flour, all of the baking powder, and all of the baking soda at the same time; beat until smooth. Add the sour cream; beat until smooth. Add the remaining flour and beat until smooth.
  5. Spoon about 1.25 - 1.5 c of the batter into a bowl. It does not need to be a big bowl, you are just moving the batter for a minute. This will be the lighter colored part of the cake - you are going to make the rest of it into mocha batter!
  6. Stir the 3 T hot water into the bowl of cocoa and espresso or coffee that you have put aside; when it has dissolved, pour that into the batter that you have left in the mixing bowl, and mix until the color is uniform. You know what, it does not have to be that uniform - you are making a marbled cake, after all. In any case, this will be the mocha part of the cake.
  7. Spoon about half of the mocha batter into the prepared pan - if you are using smaller pans, divide it evenly between the pans, leaving half of the mocha batter in the bowl. Spoon the lighter batter on top of that, and finish off with the remaining mocha batter.
  8. Take a knife and swirl it through the cake to marble the batters a bit. Or, skip that step - it is delicious no matter how you cut it. Or how you swirl it.
  9. Bake at 350 for 75 minutes if using the 9" x 5" pan. If you are using smaller pans, check on the cake at 45 or 50 minutes and keep an eye on it in 5 minute increments thereafter.
  10. The cake is done with you can insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and it comes out clean. It should also be somewhat firm to the touch.
  11. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. If you are using a metal or glass pan, gently remove the cake from the pans at this point to cool completely; if you are using paper "gift" pans, just leave as is.
Now for the glaze! My favorite part.
  1. Melt the butter, espresso or coffee, and water together in a medium bowl - 30 seconds in the microwave should do it.
  2. Sift in the cocoa, stirring until dissolved.
  3. Then sift in the powdered sugar, stirring until dissolved - and smooth and glassy. Add a few drops of hot water if it gets too stiff.
  4. Drizzle the glaze over the cake with a spoon. This is the hardest part of the recipe: make sure to not get too much glaze in your mouth - you want to have enough for the cake! But if all else fails, make a second batch of glaze.
  5. Note, the glaze will take up to an hour to set.
Recipe by My Utensil Crock at http://www.myutensilcrock.com/2017/05/17/mocha-marble-loaf-cake-with-espresso-glaze-2/