This Marble Blue Cheese Layer Cake puts a new spin on a classic savory cheese. A blue velvet cake batter is paired with a blue cheese infused batter to make a swirled masterpiece!
During work at one of the production sites, I crossed paths with a funky ingredient—powdered blue cheese. Upon internet searching, I learned that powdered cheese was an accessible and easily buy-able product. Just pick a cheese, and you could find it in powdered form!
Now you may be thinking—hold up—blue cheese in a cake? Hear me out. Only half of the batter gets the blue cheese, so there’s no cheese overload. Additionally, as it bakes, the blue cheese flavor mellows out. In fact, the blue cheese ends up tasting less funky and more tangy; think of it tasting like a cheesecake in cake-form.
Additionally, the subtle chocolate notes from the blue velvet cake smooth out those hints of potentially sharp blue cheese flavor.
Finishing off the Marble Blue Cheese Layer Cake, I casually free formed loose ruffles with a rose tip. In the frosting, the citric acid goes a long way. Though citric acid’s main function in food is as a weak preservative, I used it as a flavoring. Used a lot in pre-made frostings, citric acid is the so-called “salt” of the tangy world: it enhances the tanginess of ingredients. Here the citric acid highlights the natural flavors of the cream cheese frosting.
This Marble Blue Cheese Layer Cake transports the savory blue cheese into the realm of sweet in a tasteful and elegant way!
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- 3 ¼ cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- ¾ cup full-fat sour cream
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- blue food gel
- ¼ cup blue cheese powder
- 1 ½ cups (3 sticks, 12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 8 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch cake pans with baking spray, set aside.
- Sift cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Beat butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on high for 1 minute. Add butter and sugar, raising speed to medium-high, beating for 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl down as needed.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and beat for an additional 2 minutes, scraping the bowl when needed.
- In a spouted measuring cup whisk sour cream, milk, and vanilla together.
- Mix in dry ingredients in 3 additions and wet ingredients in 2 additions beating until just combined. Use a rubber spatula to thoroughly scrape the sides and mix the batter. Split batter in half. In one portion mix in cocoa powder and blue food gel. In the other portion, mix in blue cheese powder. Using a ¼ cup measure, spoon ¼ cup of blue batter and then spoon ¼ cup of white batter on top. Continue to alternate batters and it will spread the batter out. To spread the batter further, tap the cake pans on the counter.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating halfway. A toothpick inserted should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 5 minutes, before inverting them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed until smooth and lump free, about 3 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add powdered sugar, followed by cream, vanilla, salt, and citric acid. Raise speed to high and beat for 2 minutes. Tint frosting with blue food gel. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Use a serrated knife to level off cake layers. Dollop a bit of frosting onto the cake board or plate. Place one Blue Cheese Swirl layer onto the cake board and spread some of Blue Frosting. Press second layer on top, apply frosting, and top with final, third layer. Give cake a crumb coat with with frosting and chill for 15 minutes. Using a rose petal tip pipe ruffles onto cake.