Blue Velvet Swirl Vanilla Pound Cake

I love poundcake. There, I said it! I have never been huge on sweets, but pound cakes are the quintessential dessert. Perfect for entertaining when you have guests, and it’s also goes well with a cup of tea in the late mornings. Vanilla pound cakes are easy to make, the ingredients are simple, and you don’t have to be an experienced baker in order to achieve success!

What are the Best Ingredients for Pound Cake?

–Cake Flour: Cake flour is best for this recipe because cake flour’s gluten proteins are very weak. This means you’ll be able to achieve a lighter, more tender texture for the pound cake.
-Butter: Use real butter for this recipe. The everyday butter we use is actually a vegetable oil spread and affects the quality of the cake. Kerry Gold butter and Land o’ Lakes are great brands I recommend. Just be sure to bring your butter to room temperature before you begin to bake!
-Vanilla Extract: Use quality vanilla extract. The small investments into quality products go a long way! I typically use Benjamin’s vanilla extract, but Trader Joe’s and McCormick are also two other brands I recommend.

To create the beautiful blue marbled swirl, I used butterfly pea powder. This is the brand I used: https://amzn.to/4eYQqI1 (contains affiliate link)

What is Butterfly Pea Powder?

Butterfly Pea Powder is great for smoothies, baked goods, and tea. It’s natural and a great way to color your favorite food. It derives from the butterfly pea plant and is native to Thailand. It’s rich in antioxidants, traditionally used in eastern medicine, and is a natural stress reliever, brain booster, and a way to reduce inflammation.

How to Create Marbled Cake with the Perfect Swirls?

The key to a great marbled swirl in a cake is layers. The first layer should be your batter, the colored batter you want to create swirls with should be layered next using an ice cream scoop, and then the last layer should be your batter. You can use a knife to create the desired swirls.

Ingredients

3 cups of cake flour

5 eggs (room temperature)

21/2 cups granulated sugar

3 sticks of salted butter (room temperature)

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 cup of heavy cream (room temperature)

1 tsp Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)

2 tsp Butterfly Pea Powder

Directions

Preheat your oven to 315 degrees Fahrenheit. Begin creaming the butter for approximately 2 minutes, until the butter is fluffy. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Next, add your sugar. Cream the butter and sugar for approximately 30 seconds and slowly add each egg, one by one and continue to mix. Add vanilla extract.

Next, add your flour and continue to mix. Careful not to overmix the batter. Stop mixing as soon as ingredients are incorporated. Now add your heavy cream. I used a spatula to slowly incorporate the heavy cream and folded it into the batter. This way I avoid overmixing. Scoop out 1 cup of batter and add 1 tsp of cocoa powder along with 2 tsp of butterfly pea powder and mix until it’s well incorporated. Spray your bundt pan with baking spray and add approximately half of the batter. Then, using an ice cream scoop, strategically place scoops of the butterfly pea powder as a layer on top of the batter. Add the rest of the batter and use a knife to swirl.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool your poundcake for 15-20 minutes and then pour the glaze. Enjoy!

*I used Philadelphia’s Cream Cheese Frosting for the frosting. You can use store bought frosting or make a vanilla glaze with: