Chocolate Chip Marble Cake

On Friday night, Josh and I went to a dinner party/housewarming soiree at our friend Emma's, for which I gladly volunteered one of the many cake/pie desserts I have left. On the docket: my friend Jillian's Chocolate Chip Marble Cake.

I met Jillian at the Austin Film Festival a few years ago. I have no idea exactly how we met. Likely my friend John (whom I met the first night by marching up to the first person I saw and informing him that he was going to be my friend) introduced us. I say this because I have rarely met anyone who likes introducing people to each other more--even if he has only a vague idea who anyone is. John and Jillian and I were quickly peas and carrots, and have since kept in touch. John, in fact, turned out to be the John who hired me to work for him in LA (i.e., I have a lot to thank him for).

As for Jillian, she still lives in Texas, which means I only get to see/speak to her very periodically. In fact, if you asked me for details about Jillian, I would have very little to offer. She lives in Houston, she is going back to school for a law degree, she is very funny, blah blah blah. What I know most about Jillian is this: I adore her. And isn't that all you really need to know?

It is especially fitting that I did Jillian's recipe this week because I am in fact going back to the Austin Film Festival on Wednesday. Megan and I placed in their screenplay competition, so we're heading down to Texas for some Lone-Star-style schmoozing and general film festival fun. And if my last AFF experience is anything to go by, it is going to be a great time and very personally beneficial.

Speaking of Megan's and my script, a side note: I happily wish to redact my doom and gloom from before re: the Nicholl. You will surely be relieved to know that in the ensuing time since that post, inquiries for the script have been slowly but surely coming in. So I am feeling much better on that front, which is quite a relief.

Now, back to the cooking at hand. Jillian sent me her grandmother's Chocolate Chip Marble Cake for the Recipe Book, which I thought was very sweet (sweet of her to send, not the taste of the cake). What is hilarious about this recipe is how brand-loyal it is. It calls for 'Duncan Hines' butter cake mix, 'Jello Brand' vanilla pudding mix, etc., as though if I got the Betty Crocker kind of cake mix it just wouldn't be the same. Pretty funny.

Regardless, I did my best to obey the brand edicts (or rather Josh, who did the shopping for this one, did). Come Friday afternoon I hit the kitchen to mix everything up in what I thought would be ample time for the dinner party. Except, it turns out, as specific as Jillian as in telling me I needed Wesson-brand vegetable oil, she neglected to tell me how long to bake the cake. I decided to go by the box instructions, but as this cake had a lot of additional ingredients to the mix and Jillian said to cook it at a lower temp than the box did, well, let's just say it took a bit longer and featured me running upstairs every 15 minutes, sticking a chopstick into the cake, seeing that it wasn't done, swearing, and going back downstairs again.

At some point we were clearly going to be late to Emma's, so I declared the cake done and we went over there hoping for the best, which it turns out we got. Everyone there lost their minds for this thing. It really was nice and moist and tasty and in fun pretty layers. One of Emma's friends even kept saying that it tasted better than his favorite all time cake growing up that his mother used to make him. I mean !!!!!

Let's just say I was pleased with myself. And the cake was good.

Muy Delicioso

Jillian's Nana's Impressive Chocolate Chip Marble Cake

1 Duncan Hines brand butter cake mix (ha)
1 Jello brand vanilla pudding mix (haha)
1/2 pint sour cream
4 eggs
3/4 cup Wesson oil (or whatever brand canola oil I had in the house, because Josh claims I am trying to kill him when I buy regular vegetable oil)
1 cap-full of vanilla

5-6 oz chocolate syrup (aka '2/3's cup')
1 sm pkg of chocolate chips

Send Josh to grocery store for items. Include 'chocolate syrup' on that list until Josh points out that you have three kinds already in the fridge. Have Josh call needing more details on the pudding mix. What type? The instant powder? The kind that needs to be heated up? What size? Have no answer. Just tell him to get you one of each, figuring that if the info isn't specific, it will be okay either way.

Preheat oven on bake 325 degrees. Rejoice that you are going to get to use your bundt pan for the first time.

Combine first set of ingredients one at a a time. Make a game-time decision that you will use the smaller box of vanilla pudding (the non-heat-on-stove kind), for whatever it's worth. Separate half of the batter (lean heavy on the vanilla side).

Have no idea what Jillian means by this. Read through the rest of the recipe, and determine what she means is, split the batter in 'half,' because you will mix half with the chocolate ingredients and leave the other half as the pure vanilla ones. Therefore, make the vanilla 'half' a little bit larger than a proper half, which will surely upset your mathematically-minded friends.

Mix in the chocolate ingredients, i.e., mix the chocolate ingredients with each other and then mix in the smaller vanilla half. Pour into bundt cake pan one batter at a time, starting with the vanilla half. I.e., pour in the vanilla half, then pour in the chocolate half. I think.

Realize Jillian has not told you how long to bake it for. Look at box, which tells you about 35-45 minutes for your bundt pan, but at 350 degrees. Quickly discover that at 325 degrees with all that syrup and whatnot in it, that after 45 minutes your cake is still soup. Bake for 10 more minutes, to no effect. Then again. Then decide this is crap and ratchet the oven up to 350 and repeat until the cake appears almost done and you're out of time anyway.

Stick cake in bundt pan into refrigerator to speed cooling process and keep safe from Judah, your friend's food-fascinated dog who will definitely eat it if you leave it unattended.

Determine, after having watched Peggy's family serve bundt cake to the visiting priest (played by Colin Hanks!) on Mad Men that bundt cakes must have icing, even if Jillian didn't tell you about it. Google 'bundt cake icing' and come up with the following recipe, which makes way more icing that you need for just one cake no matter what it says, and which you assemble at Emma's:

1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2-4 tbsp water

Melt first three ingredients and mix in saucepan. Add in water one tbsp at a time until it is the consistency you want. Mix until smooth.

Wedge cake out of bundt pan with the aid of of a knife, nervously used to pry it loose around the sides, wondering if you should have buttered the pan? Pour way more than you need icing over the cake. Wish icing would come out white, but it comes out clear. Wonder: is this because I used 'I Can't Believe It's Not Butter' instead of butter because the chiropractor suggested Josh cut out animal fats to reduce his cholesterol? Have no idea. But it tastes great anyhow, so whatevs.

Triumph!

Jillian note: This is so good - so good and easy to make.

Heather note: Yes it is, once you figure out how long to bake it, which I still don't know. Also, obviously because the chocolate chips are mixed in with syrup, don't expect them to bake up like chocolate chips. They just bake up like a big mound of chocolate in the middle of the cake. Which is obviously just fine with everyone.