Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Bundt Cake

The combination of chocolate and raspberry is part of a romantic tradition in our house. About 2 months after we met, Brian took me out for a romantic birthday dinner at an elegant French restaurant and I was particularly looking forward to a chocolate dessert. Wouldn't you know, they didn't have one! So the following week, when he came over, he brought a gorgeous chocolate cake from a bakery near him. It was several layers of rich chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream between the layers, a chocolate ganache coating and a tall heap of chocolate curls and shavings dusted with powdered sugar over the top. Wow.

When we cut into it we realized that the layers of cake also had a raspberry coating and it created the most amazing contrasting flavor to the overwhelmingly rich chocolate. The cake came from a bakery called Audrey's Fine Cakes (out on Long Island) and we've had it several times since then. We try to avoid it because the cake is large and, if we keep eating it, we'll grow large. But when we do indulge, we need only look at each other and say "Audrey's." It's our special cake.

I've never tried to recreate it before but, when the founders of the Bundt-a-Month group, Anuradha of Baker Street and Lora of Cake Duchess, selected chocolate as the February flavor, I realized it was my perfect opportunity to try. Because the same technique that works on a layer cake would make the inside of a bundt soggy, I modified the raspberry into a cream cheese swirl. The result was even better than I'd hoped and we practically inhaled the whole cake over a weekend. Enjoy!

Ingredients
(adapted from Baker Street)

Cake:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1 Cup water
1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Sticks unsalted butter
3 Eggs
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon vanilla

Raspberry Swirl:
8 oz. Cream cheese
1/2 Cup seedless raspberry jam
1/3 Cup sugar
1 Egg

Make the raspberry swirl by beating together the cream cheese, sugar, egg and jam until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. The mixture will be loose so keep it in the refrigerator while you prep the cake batter.

To make the cake, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, eggs, water and vanilla. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until everything is fully incorporated.

Butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan and pour in half the chocolate batter. Pour the raspberry mixture over that and top with the remaining chocolate batter. Bake in a thoroughly pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Note that a toothpick may come out clean after 55 minutes but the cake has so much moisture from the jam that it needs the extra five minutes in the oven. Cool completely (allow a couple of hours) before turning out of the pan. Makes 10 - 12 servings.

Have a look at what our other February bundt bakers have made:

Chocolate Berry Bundt Cake by Heather from Hezzi D's Books and Cooks

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Balsamic Strawberry Sauce by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom

Chocolate Chobani Bundt Cake by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry

Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake by Holly from A Baker’s House

Chocolate Mini Bundts with Matcha Flowers by Kim from Ninja Baking

Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Bundt Cake by Anita from Hungry Couple

Chocolate Rocky Road Bundt Cake by Tara from Noshing With The Nolands

Chocolate Turtle Bundt Cake by Kim from Cravings Of A Lunatic

Deep Chocolate Be Mine Bundt by Stacy from Food Lust People Love

Double Chocolate Swirled Bundt Cake by Laura from The Spiced Life

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layered Bundt Cake by Karen from In The Kitchen With KP

Red Wine Chocolate Bundt Cake with Mascarpone Whipped Cream by Kate from Food Babbles

Sour Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days

Quadruple Chocolate Bundt Cake by Dorothy from Shockingly Delicious

Vanilla and Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street

White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake by Paula from Vintage Kitchen

 

 Interested in becoming part of Bundt-a-Month?  Here's how:
- Use chocolate and bake us a bundt for February
- Post it before February 28th, 2013
- Use the #BundtAMonth hashtag in your title (i.e. Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Bundt Cake #BundtAMonth)
- Add your entry to the Linky tool below
- Link back to our announcement posts

Be sure to follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes.  Or, head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from over 350 bundt cake recipes.