This beautifully swirled chocolate and vanilla sour cream pound cake topped with crunchy hazelnut ganache is known as gâteau marbré. And you don’t need make two different batters, so it’s as easy to bake as it is pretty.
French Marble Pound Cake
Makes 1 (8½x4½-inch) cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs (150 grams), room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons (6 grams) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (120 grams) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 ounces (57 grams) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 teaspoons (4 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
- Hazelnut Crunch Ganache (recipe follows)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray an 8½x4½-inch loaf pan with baking spray with flour. Line pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over sides of pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in three additions alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
- In another medium bowl, stir together one-third of batter (about 1⅓ cups or 325 grams), melted chocolate, and cocoa until combined.
- Spread one-third of vanilla batter (about 1⁄2 cup or 216 grams) in bottom of prepared pan. Spoon vanilla and chocolate batters by heaping tablespoonfuls (about 15 grams each) in a checkerboard pattern into pan (3 scoops wide along short side). Tap pan on a kitchen towel-lined counter 2 to 3 times to help level batter and fill pan. Create another layer of batters in a checkerboard pattern, placing vanilla on top of chocolate from first layer and vice versa. Tap pan again. Repeat with any remaining batter. Using a knife, swirl batters together in a zigzag pattern through length and width of pan. Tap pan to help level batter and fill in any gaps.
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean or an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 200°F (93°C), 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1½ hours, covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Wrap cooled cake in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Unwrap cake, and return to wire rack. Pour Hazelnut Crunch Ganache all over top and sides of cake, spreading with an offset spatula to fully cover. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes, or let stand at room temperature for 25 minutes. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Hazelnut Crunch Ganache
Makes about 1¾ cups
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (270 grams) heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 ounces (227 grams) dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup (85 grams) finely chopped hazelnuts
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat cream and butter over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until bubbles form around sides of pan. (Do not boil.) Remove from heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine chocolate and hot cream mixture. Let stand for 5 minutes; stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in hazelnuts. Use immediately.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Just a quick question: can I freeze the Hazelnut Ganache pound cake?
Thank you for your time.
Hi Teresa!
Yes! You can freeze the cake without the glaze and thaw it in the fridge. Happy baking!
I have not tried making this recipe yet. However, the instructions do not make sense. In Step 4 we are to take 1/3 batter (1 1/2 c or 325 g) and add the melted chocolate and cocoa. Step 5 then says to spread 1/3 batter (1/2 c or 216 g) to bottom of pan. The amounts in Step 4 and Step 5 cannot both be considered 1/3 of the batter. Help me understand the math please. Thank you for a response.
Hi Tracy,
In Step 5, the 1/3 of the batter is referring to what is leftover of the vanilla batter after separating out 1/3 of the original amount of batter to make the chocolate batter. Once you remove the 1 1/2 cup of batter in Step 4, the amount that would be considered 1/3 of the leftover vanilla batter changes to 1/2 cup. Hope this helps! Happy baking!