When you can’t decide between a vanilla cake, a cheesecake, and a chocolate cake you can always make a Philly fluff cake (or should it be Philly Phluff?). This tasty cake combines the best of all worlds into one creamy, chocolatey, dreamy cake.
This special cake has some cream cheese in the batter and in the glaze as well. This gives the cake a richness, despite looking in spots like a plain yellow cake. Swirled in between these spots are thick ribbons of pure chocolate.
To get this swirl simply fill up your bundt pan part way with batter then top with the melted chocolate. Then take a knife and swirl the two layers a bit. You only need to make one complete circle with your knife and then you’re done. You don’t want to completely mix them, just create a little swirl effect.
Then top with the rest of the batter and smooth it all out with the back of a spoon before placing in the oven to bake.
You’ll want to let the cake cool a bit before removing from the pan. Then leave it to cool a little longer before you glaze it. This keeps more of the frosting on the cake- if it’s too warm it will slide off.
The glaze is easy to make and I love how it gives the cake a snow white appearance. Somehow it makes the chocolate visually stand out more when you cut into it.
If you want to keep it simple you can also skip the glaze and give the cake a dusting with powdered sugar instead. Either way, this cake is so yummy and perfect for special occasions or for anytime you just feel like whipping up a tasty treat.
Philly Fluff Cake
Yield(s): Serves 12-16
50m prep time
1h cook time
464 calories
Diet: Vegetarian
For the cake:
- 14 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
For the glaze:
- 2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. In large bowl cream together cream cheese, butter, and shortening. Mix for 5 minutes or until fluffy in texture.
- In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add to cream cheese mixture, blending the whole time.
- Add 1 cup sugar and combine. Followed by 2 eggs. Then add remaining sugar and mix. Add remaining eggs and vanilla and combine until uniform in color.
- Pour half the batter into greased and floured 6-cup bundt pan. Add melted chocolate on top of batter and swirl with butter knife. Do no over-mix. Top with remaining cream cheese batter.
- Bake for 60-65 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Allow to cool another hour before glazing.
For the glaze:
- Combine all glaze ingredients using electric mixer until smooth. If too thick add a bit more milk until slightly runny. Drizzle over cooled cake and let set for 20 minutes before serving. Optional: if you would rather you can dust cake with some powdered sugar instead of glazing it.
Recipe adapted from Serious Eats.