Name: The Best Marble Swirl Cake Recipe
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: Serves 12 to 16
Ingredients: 1/2 cup cocoa powder; 1/2 cup water; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached flour, plus more for preparing pan; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder; 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened; 2 cups sugar; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract or 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil; 2 drops almond extract; 5 eggs, lightly beaten; 1 cup milk; Shortening, for greasing; 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped; 6 tablespoons butter; 1/2 cup sugar; 1/2 cup evaporated milk; 1 tablespoons cornstarch

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By Marcy Goldman

March 22, 2000

Most people approach coffee or tea and an accompanying treat in one of a few ways. Either you are (a) the dainty sip-and-nibble sort, (b) the expedient bite-and-gulp variety or (c) an eat-first, wash-it-all-down-later type.

Where we converge is in agreeing that the ritual of the coffee break or tea time makes the mundane marvelous.

Always a welcome pause, the coffee or tea break is a poor man’s or woman’s urban jungle Club Med, a virtual oasis unlike anything else in our jam-packed lives.

Best of all, it is a ritual that calls for the best in homey little treats. Miniature cheesecakes, delicate scones, buttery rugelach, lavishly swirled marble cake are just some delights that are perfect for a coffee hour recipe collection.

All are easy; none is cloyingly sweet or heavily frosted. These are wonderful just warm from the oven or even a day or two later. This is the type of baking that is solidly rooted in the home kitchen.

So bake a batch of something and brew a pot, then sit back and anticipate that small endorphin rush. Second cup is on the house.