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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
📖 Recipe
Moist Marble Cake Recipe
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
This post was originally posted in April 2012, I have updated the post by editing the text and adding new images.
Tina (PinayInTexas)
This is one gorgeous and delicious looking cake, Muna! Would love a slice of it right now!
Only Fish Recipes
ohh wow...the marble cake looks absolutely delish...loved it !
Shu Han
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!
Susan
Do we have to add 2 1/4 tsp baking powder. For the cake.
munatycooking
Hi Susan, Yes.
Adele
This cake was soooo good! Thank you!
munatycooking
You are welcome 🙂
Sugitha
If I use baking soda instead of baking powder, what would the measurements be?
munatycooking
Hi, Baking soda will not help the cake rise, omitting it will make the cake dense.
Annie
hello Muna,
Your cakes and recipes are straightforward and looks simply delicious.
Thank you for sharing. Will definitely visit your site again.
munatycooking
Hi Annie, thanks a lot for stopping by and I hope you give more of my recipes a try 🙂
Sh
My new best cake. I made it 4 times. Fifth is on the way 😍
munatycooking
Thank you so much for your feedback! It's one of our favorite cakes too 🙂
Mary
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!
munatycooking
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/
SUNITHA VIJAYAN
I made this cake...it was moist and fabulous....thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe...😊
munatycooking
I'm so thrilled that you have liked my recipe, Thanks a lot for the feedback, much appreciated 😊
JG
Best recipe for marble cake! The only modification I make is just use less sugar.
munatycooking
Thanks for trying the recipe, I'm glad that you have liked it, and thanks for the tip! 😀
Greta
Can I make it in a Bundt pan
Muna
Hi Greta, yes, you can make it in a bundt pan.