Marble Cake
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
This marble cake may look fancy, but its flavor is pure old-fashioned goodness.
With swirls of tender vanilla and fudgy chocolate cake, this marble cake looks fancy but tastes like pure old-fashioned goodness, and it appeals to kids and grown-ups alike. It’s essentially a marbled version of this award-winning Kentucky Butter Cake. Surprisingly, you don’t need two completely different batters to make marble cake. You simply take a third of the vanilla batter and mix it with melted chocolate and cocoa powder and voilà — that’s your chocolate batter! Be careful not to over-marble the batters or the flavors will get muddled; a few swirls around the pan with a knife will do the trick.
What You’ll Need To Make Marble Cake
Most recipes for marble cake call solely for cocoa powder for the chocolate portion of the cake. I like to add real chocolate as well for a more intense, fudgy flavor; this makes the chocolate swirl portion of the cake taste almost like a brownie.
If you’d rather not buy a whole carton of buttermilk for this recipe, it’s easy to make your own. Simply add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add regular milk to the 1-cup line and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly curdled and thickened.
The Method
This butter cake is a “high-ratio” cake, which means that the weight of the sugar equals or exceeds the weight of the flour. Instead of the more common “creaming” method (where the butter and sugar are beaten together before the eggs, flour, and liquid are added), high-ratio cakes can be made using the “high-ratio” or “quick-mix” method. This involves mixing all the dry ingredients with the butter and some of the liquid first, then adding the remaining liquid ingredients. This method is not only faster and easier than the traditional creaming method, but it also yields incredibly tender and fine-textured cakes.(Other high-ratio cakes on the site include pound cake, yellow cake, and rum cake.)
How To Make Marble Cake
In a small saucepan, combine the cocoa powder, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, whisking until smooth.
Off the heat, immediately add the chocolate; whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
Whisk and set aside. (Note that the mixture will start to look curdled as it sits; that’s okay.)
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining 2 cups of sugar. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to combine.
Add the softened butter and half of the buttermilk mixture and mix on low speed until moistened but still a little crumbly, about 1 minute.
With the mixer running on low, gradually add the remaining buttermilk mixture until incorporated.
Increase the speed to medium and mix for three minutes, stopping once to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter should look pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again, making sure the batter is evenly mixed.
Transfer about 2-1/2 cups of the batter to a medium bowl and add the chocolate mixture.
Whisk until smooth — that’s your chocolate batter.
Spoon half of the remaining vanilla batter into a greased Bundt pan.
Pour the chocolate batter over top.
Finish by spooning the remaining vanilla batter over the chocolate (don’t worry about covering the chocolate layer completely).
Using a butter knife, swirl the batters together with a zig-zag motion, going three times around the pan. It may not look like the batters are swirled; that’s okay. It’s important not to overswirl.
Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. While the cake bakes, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, water, and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.
Set the baked cake on a cooling rack. Using a skewer or toothpick, poke about 40 holes in the bottom of the still-hot cake, going about 3/4 of the way down. Spoon or brush half of the glaze evenly over the bottom of the cake. If the glaze starts to pool on the surface, poke more holes to help it absorb.
Leave the cake on the rack to cool for 30 minutes.
Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Brush the remaining glaze evenly over the top and sides of the cake, letting it soak in as you go. (Go slowly so that the glaze gets absorbed.)
Let the cake sit for at least two hours before serving. Cut with a serrated knife.
You May Also Like
- Kentucky Butter Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Walnut Swirl
- Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
- Lemon Pound Cake
- German Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
Marble Cake
This marble cake may look fancy, but its flavor is pure old-fashioned goodness.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- ½ cup natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey's
- 2½ cups sugar, divided
- ½ cup water
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, best quality such as Ghirardelli, broken into 1-in pieces
- 1 cup buttermilk (see note)
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
For the Glaze
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Spray a 10-in (12-cup) Bundt pan generously with nonstick cooking spray with flour, such as Baker's Joy or Pam with Flour.
- In a small saucepan, combine the cocoa powder, ½ cup of the sugar, and the water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, whisking until smooth. Off the heat, immediately add the chocolate; whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Set aside. (Note that the mixture will start to look curdled as it sits; that's okay.)
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and remaining 2 cups of sugar. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds to combine. Add the softened butter and half of the buttermilk mixture and mix on low speed until moistened but still a little crumbly, about 1 minute. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the remaining buttermilk mixture until incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and mix for three minutes, stopping once to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The batter should look pale and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again, making sure the batter is evenly mixed.
- Transfer about 2½ cups of the batter to a medium bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth.
- Spoon half of the remaining vanilla batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Pour the chocolate batter over top. Finish by spooning the remaining vanilla batter over the chocolate (don't worry about covering the chocolate layer completely). Using a butter knife, swirl the batters together with a zig-zag motion, going three times around the pan. It may not look like the batters are swirled; that's okay. It's important not to over-swirl.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- While the cake bakes, make the glaze: In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, water, and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack. Using a skewer or toothpick, poke about 40 holes in the bottom of the still-hot cake, going about ¾ of the way down. Spoon or brush half of the glaze evenly over the bottom of the cake. If the glaze starts to pool on the surface, poke more holes to help it absorb. Leave the cake on the rack to cool for 30 minutes.
- Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Brush the remaining glaze evenly over the top and sides of the cake, letting it soak in as you go. (Go slowly so that the glaze gets absorbed.) Let the cake sit for at least two hours before serving. Cut with a serrated knife.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: This cake keeps well for several days. Once cool, store in a cake dome (or cover with plastic wrap) at room temperature until ready to serve.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, double-wrap it securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place it in heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (16 servings)
- Calories: 443
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 66 g
- Sugar: 45 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 223 mg
- Cholesterol: 87 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
This cake recipe great to make and turned out exactly as recipe stated. Is now a favourite of mine and make it every two weeks. Thank you.
Hi, can I substitute buttermilk with Greek yogurt for this recipe? Thank you!
Sure – It may give the cake a slightly different texture but Greek yogurt should work. Please LMK how it turns out!
This cake is a huge hit. I worked at Starbucks decades ago and loved their marble loaf, and have been looking for a dupe. This is even better! So many of your recipes are fantastic im so grateful to have found you! God bless you and thank you for sharing your gift!
💗
Is the chocolate marble hard when cooled? I would love that crunch
No, the chocolate will be cakey in texture — sorry!
New favourite bundt cake!! Easy to make and delicious. Everyone at work raved about it!! Sue
trying it tomorrow…wish me luck
I really want to use this recipe for a birthday cake? Any tips converting it to round cake layer pans? I will be making a two tiered cake. Thank you!
Hi Christy, you can turn this into a layer cake. I’d use two 9-inch round pans. I’d bake them at 350°F for about 40 minutes. Hope you enjoy!
Hi, I love your cake recipes! I have a question about the Bundt cake please. My cake keeps rising at the top so when I turn the cake out, it doesn’t have a flat bottom. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Ruby, so glad you like the cake recipes! It’s very normal for a Bundt cake to be rounded at the top and not have a flat bottom when you turn it out. (That’s always the way mine are.) If it really bothers you, you could try cutting that top rounded portion off to make it flat but I think that would be really challenging to do!
Would you still use the glaze?
Yep (the cake will be dry without it). 🙂
What kind of frosting would you use for a layer cake & would you still use a glaze?
Yes, I’d still use the glaze even if you frost it. If you want chocolate frosting, you could use the frosting from this recipe. For a vanilla version, this would work nicely. Please LMK how it turns out!
Took longer to bake in a stoneware bundt cake pan, but it was EXCELLENT. Everyone loved it. Made for my brothers 61st birthday. He took the rest home and he hardly takes leftovers. This is a winner for sure. I made the glaze, but added a few dark chocolate chips and dark chocolate baking powder. Came out wonderful. Like that tasty glaze that donut shops use on a chocolate donut, but better! Thank you for this recipe!
Hello I am gluten free and typically use King Arthur measure for measure flour and have had good luck with it. Do you know of anyone who has tried this and had success, before I go for it! Thanks!
Hi Gabe, It doesn’t look like any one has commented after making a gluten-free version of this, but many readers have mentioned that they’ve had success using King Arthur gluten-free flour for many of my other baked goods so I definitely think it’s worth a try. Please report back if you try it!
I’m using a loaf pan for the cake – any changes to temperature or time? Thank you.
Hi Robbie, you’ll need two 8-1/2 by 4-1/2 loaf pans. I’d keep the temperature the same. Bake time should be 50 – 60 minutes. Hope you enjoy!
Hello. I’ve been making this cake since 1967 when a friends mother taught us to bake. Several years ago I went gluten free and decided to try this with Bobs Redmill GF 1 to 1 and it was very good. I made it now twice for celiac friends, with great success. But since there’s no gluten to hold it together I added an extra egg in place of an equal portion of milk. That worked great. She was also diabetic so I used half the sugar with nothing added to replace it. I even liked it.
This recipe is the classic 1-2-3-4 cake found in many older cookbooks. 1 C butter, 2 C sugar, 3 C flour and 4 eggs! With leavening and extracts added.
It is amazing , every one loved it
It isn’t that easy but it deserves the effort and time
If I were to reduce the ingredients to half to make less of the cake, would it affect anything?
Hi Shanza, if you want to halve it, I’d use a different baking pan. It will work in a 9-inch round pan and should take 40 minutes give or take. You can also use an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan. Bake time should be 50 – 60 minutes. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn, I have some quick questions. 1) Can I use cake flour instead of AP flour? 2) Can I use Dutch processed cocoa? I’ve made this before as written and it’s wonderful, I just don’t want to take another trip to the store. TIA.
Hi Gwen, for the best results, I’d stick with the all-purpose flour and natural cocoa powder — sorry!
Yes, you can 🙂
For every cup of flour in a recipe, add 2 tbsps more cake flour so, for this recipe, you would need to add 6 tbsps of cake flour to the 3 cups of cake flour to equal 3 cups of AP flour.
Are you sure about the 325° for 60 to 70 minutes? The recipe is great, but I’m almost 2 hours in and the thing still doesn’t look done.
Hi Cox, the oven temperature of 325° is correct. Did you use a 10-inch bundt pan? If so, you may want to check your oven temperature to see if it’s accurate. Here are some tips for how to go about it. Hope the cake came out okay!
Recipe looks soooo good. I need to try it ASAP!! I’m a newbie to baking and wanted to find out if two 9 inch square pans would work for the mentioned measurements? And how long would you recommend I bake?? Thank you for all the effort and hard work you put in to make sure ours come out just as well!! Xoxo Lolita
Hi Lolita, I wouldn’t recommend it — sorry!
Great cake. I reduced the sugar by one cup and it worked out well. Didn’t do the glaze as well. Can I just use cocoa powder sometimes as I don’t have semi sweet chocolate sometimes? If yes, what should be the amount? Thanks.
Glad you liked it! For the best results, I’d use both the cocoa powder and the chocolate.