Red Velvet Marble Bundt Cake

So here we have a Valentine's Day dessert obviously displayed on a Christmas plate. Hmmm. Well, the easiest explanation is that I made this at Christmas, but also think it's a wonderful cake for Valentine's, with the beautiful red swirl. It's the easiest and the most true. So don't mind the Christmas plate - just look at the cake.

This is a wonderfully rich cake with swirls of red velvet in the vanilla batter. It doesn't need a frosting or any kind of icing - it's divine just on its own.

So, whether you make it this week for Valentine's, or pin this recipe and save it for Christmas, it doesn't matter. Any holiday that needs an infusion of red and deliciousness is the right holiday for this cake.

Red Velvet Marble Bundt Cake

3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. vanilla
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk

RED VELVET SWIRL
1/3 cup cocoa powder
5 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. red food color

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together butter, sugar, and sour cream until well-combined. Stir in vanilla. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition. On low, stir in flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in milk.

In a separate large bowl, stir together 2 ½ cups of the batter, cocoa powder, milk, and red food coloring.

Using a 1/4-cup measuring cup, drop two scoops of plain batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Drop one scoop of red velvet swirl batter on top of plain batter. Continue to alternate between plain and red velvet swirl batters until both batters are gone.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Invert the cake onto wire rack, and cool completely.