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Home » Dessert

Moist Marble Cake Recipe

Published: Jun 14, 2019 · Modified: Mar 11, 2022 by Muna · This post may contain affiliate links ·

Recipe

Make this moist marble cake! Beautiful swirls of chocolate and vanilla, a rich and buttery cake made from scratch. Go ahead and make it today; you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen.

Slices of marble cake on a cooling rack.

I found this marble cake recipe at Martha Stewart website, I went ahead and made few changes to make this cake moist, this marble cake recipe will keep the cake moist for a long time. Coffee is the best companion to this cake, but a chilled glass of milk will make your kids ask for more cake.

I have made marble pound cake, which is a hit on Pinterest and is one of the most viewed cake recipes on my blog besides, the red velvet cake, and coconut cake with frosting. So, you might want to give it a try but if you want to go lighter on calories then stick with the recipe or marble cake I’m sharing here.

This marble cake recipe is everything you want to taste in a marble cake, the balance between vanilla flavor and chocolate, moist and tender crumbs, let’s not forget the beautiful swirls and the mind-blowing aroma that will fill your kitchen while baking this beauty!

A marble cake freshly baked.

HOW TO MAKE MARBLE CAKE?

Although you can use melted chocolate to make a marble cake, this recipe is for everyone’s convenience so that we will stick with our all-time favorite unsweetened baking cocoa powder.

To make a good tasting marble cake, we should start by pre-heating the oven properly. A good cake batter can fail miserably if the oven is not preheated and can ruin the effort you have invested in the batter.

If you don’t have parchment paper, make sure to grease and then dust the baking pan with flour covering all the edges of the pan.

Two slices of moist marble cake served.

Now the batter. When the recipe asks for creaming the butter and sugar, do not skip it or use melted butter thinking, it will make the process of creaming faster. Creaming the butter with sugar until fluffy and lighter in texture makes the cake moist. Butter has a small amount of water that creates those tender crumbs when the cake is baking. Melting the butter will reduce the water and give you a greasy cake instead of a moist cake.

After creaming the sugar and butter, add the oil, which is another ingredient that helps the cake stays moist longer. Add the eggs one at a time and then add half the dry ingredients (the flour, baking powder, salt) and then half the milk repeat this step and mix for a few seconds. Overbeating or mixing the cake batter will make it flat and tasteless.

Showing marble cake loaf on a cooling rack with milk on the side.

In a different bowl, mix the cocoa powder, with hot water, and the third mount of the previously prepared cake batter. In the cake pan spoon in the vanilla cake batter and the chocolate batter, try to make what looks like a chessboard pattern. The batter will be liquid!

Over head shot of marble cake slices.

CAN I USE CAKE FLOUR INSTEAD OF ALL- PURPOSE FLOUR?

Using cake flour works just fine; in fact, the cake will be fluffier. Don’t change the amount of flour used, so if you are using 1 ¾ cup of all-purpose flour in this marble cake recipe, keep the ratio the same when using cake flour.

Close up shot of a freshly baked marble cake.

HOW TO BAKE A MARBLE CAKE?

To avoid baking a dry cake, or a cake that drops in the middle, preheat the oven and make sure that if the recipe is asking you to bake the cake at 180C/350F that your oven temperature matches the same. Some ovens at 180C/350F are almost 200C/420F! I know this was shocking to me too and that’s why I always advise having an oven thermometer.

Do not open the oven door in the first ten minutes of baking. Cold air will make the cake drop.

Don’t skip the toothpick test, always insert the toothpick or skewer in the middle of the cake, and if it comes out clean only then your cake is fully baked.

Moist marble cake slice.
Feature image of marble cake.

Moist Marble Cake Recipe

A moist marble cake a balance between the flavor of vanilla and chocolate.
4.80 from 15 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cake
Cuisine: American
Keyword: marble cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 150kcal
Author: Muna Kenny

Ingredients

  • 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoon soft unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ⅔ cup milk
  • 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 5 tablespoon boiling water

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F/180Butter or line with parchment paper a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt set aside.
  • In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy, this will take 5 minutes on medium speed if using an electric mixer. Add the oil and beat for another minute.
  • Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Scrap the sides of the bowl and continue beating. Add the vanilla and beat for one minute.
  • Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour.
  • Set aside ⅓ of the batter.
  • In a different bowl, mix the cocoa powder with the boiling water, and then add the cocoa mixture to the reserved ⅓ of the cake batter, mix well.
  • Spoon both batters into the prepared pan in 2 layers, alternating spoonful of vanilla and chocolate to simulate a checkerboard.
  • To create the marbling effect, run a table knife through the batters in a swirling motion.
  • Bake the cake on the middle shelf for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  • If you have used parchment paper in the pan, then pull the cake out of the pan from both side of the parchment paper and place it over a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cake from the parchment paper and keep it on the cooling rack to cool completely.
  • If you are not using parchment paper, then remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a cooling rack, after 7 minutes remove the cake from the pan and place it over the cooling rack to cool completely.

Nutrition

Calories: 150kcal
DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?Follow me on Instagram @munatycooking or tag #munatycooking!

This post was originally posted in April 2012, I have updated the post by editing the text and adding new images.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tina (PinayInTexas)

    April 16, 2012 at 3:14 pm

    This is one gorgeous and delicious looking cake, Muna! Would love a slice of it right now!

    Reply
  2. Only Fish Recipes

    April 20, 2012 at 4:12 am

    ohh wow...the marble cake looks absolutely delish...loved it !

    Reply
  3. Shu Han

    April 29, 2012 at 5:53 pm

    that is just gorgeous munaty! I always wondered how people get those beautiful swirls and patterns! now I know how, thanks so much for sharing!

    Reply
  4. Susan

    August 13, 2019 at 10:19 pm

    Do we have to add 2 1/4 tsp baking powder. For the cake.

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      August 14, 2019 at 11:17 am

      Hi Susan, Yes.

      Reply
  5. Adele

    April 29, 2020 at 5:06 am

    5 stars
    This cake was soooo good! Thank you!

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      April 30, 2020 at 5:45 am

      You are welcome 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sugitha

    May 11, 2020 at 10:46 am

    If I use baking soda instead of baking powder, what would the measurements be?

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      May 11, 2020 at 3:08 pm

      Hi, Baking soda will not help the cake rise, omitting it will make the cake dense.

      Reply
  7. Annie

    June 09, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    hello Muna,
    Your cakes and recipes are straightforward and looks simply delicious.
    Thank you for sharing. Will definitely visit your site again.

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      June 14, 2020 at 4:50 am

      Hi Annie, thanks a lot for stopping by and I hope you give more of my recipes a try 🙂

      Reply
  8. Sh

    June 30, 2020 at 6:53 am

    5 stars
    My new best cake. I made it 4 times. Fifth is on the way 😍

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      July 01, 2020 at 9:06 am

      Thank you so much for your feedback! It's one of our favorite cakes too 🙂

      Reply
  9. Mary

    February 01, 2021 at 7:04 pm

    Wow I love marble cake so much! This recipe looks like the one! If I wanted to make a plain cake without the chocolate can I just omit the coco powder and hot water and bake it like normal? Will it taste good? Thanks!

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      February 04, 2021 at 4:04 am

      It will taste good and yes you can omit the cocoa powder and the hot water, but if you want an authentic pound cake then visit this link https://www.munatycooking.com/authentic-pound-cake/

      Reply
  10. SUNITHA VIJAYAN

    August 19, 2021 at 2:35 am

    5 stars
    I made this cake...it was moist and fabulous....thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe...😊

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      August 21, 2021 at 8:57 am

      I'm so thrilled that you have liked my recipe, Thanks a lot for the feedback, much appreciated 😊

      Reply
  11. JG

    May 02, 2022 at 7:34 pm

    5 stars
    Best recipe for marble cake! The only modification I make is just use less sugar.

    Reply
    • munatycooking

      May 10, 2022 at 3:31 am

      Thanks for trying the recipe, I'm glad that you have liked it, and thanks for the tip! 😀

      Reply

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Hello there, and welcome! I’m Muna, the writer, food photographer, and videographer at Munaty Cooking. I’m also the mother of a handsome young man. I’m from and reside in Sharjah. Oh, and there are more fun facts about me!

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