Cake or cupcake, marble

The King Arthur Test Kitchen’s selected marble cake alternates vanilla and chocolate batter in a long, narrow loaf. Its stacked layers create the marbled appearance without swirling the mixtures together.

Softened unsalted butter and granulated sugar are creamed together. Three eggs are beaten in individually, then the mixture is beaten until light before table salt, vanilla and baking powder are added.

Milk and flour are stirred in alternately. One third of this same batter is transferred to another bowl and mixed with Dutch-process cocoa, additional melted butter and optional espresso powder to make the chocolate portion.

The pan receives three vanilla layers and two chocolate layers, with optional coarse sparkling sugar over the top. This selected tea-loaf version bakes with a light foil tent added toward the end.

After a short rest in the pan, the cake is turned onto a rack to cool. Its slices show the contrast between the vanilla base and cocoa-enriched layers, with espresso offered as an optional addition to the chocolate batter.