Soft, fluffy, moist marble cake, made with vanilla and chocolate cake swirled together. This cake is easy to make with my step-by-step instructions (and new video!), and is frosted with my favorite silky chocolate frosting.
The People Pleaser
👆🏻That’s what I call this marble cake. It just has something for everyone. It’s perfectly contrasted to appease taste testers of all dessert preferences. This cake isn’t just delicious, it’s:
- Soft, fluffy, and moist.
- Cloaked with a thick, dense, and fudgy chocolate frosting
- Light in texture
- But has a dark chocolate ripple
- Sweet vanilla
- Deep chocolate
I mean, really, if you don’t like marble cake, who are you? And also, why are you here?
This recipe is a close cousin to my vanilla cake. In fact, that recipe was only developed because I needed a solid and reliable base for both this marble cake recipe and my pineapple upside-down cake. It took about 60 tries and many months to get the recipe just right, but hundreds of five star reviews later, I’d have to say all the testing paid off.
What You Need
A few basic ingredients:
- Butter. Use unsalted, or if you only have salted reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon. Butter adds flavor to the cake that you wouldn’t get by just using oil.
- Oil. Oil keeps the cake soft and moist by adding moisture to the batter that you would miss out on if you only used butter.
- Sugar. We just use granulated for this recipe.
- Eggs. Four large. For best results, use room-temperature eggs. In fact, all of your ingredients should be at room temperature.
- Vanilla extract. To enhance the flavor.
- Flour. I use all-purpose. Cake flour may be substituted, please see the notes below the recipe card.
- Baking powder. A Tablespoon may seem like a lot. It’s not a typo, trust me.
- Salt. For flavor.
- Buttermilk. Yes, even though we aren’t using baking soda (which is often used alongside buttermilk, if you recall my buttermilk substitute post), you still want to use buttermilk. It adds flavor and moisture to your marble cake.
- Chocolate. A 4 oz bar .You can use semisweet or dark chocolate.
You’ll also need the ingredients for a batch of chocolate frosting (though I include some possible substitutions a bit further down the page!
Just One Batter
When making the cake I originally toyed with the idea of making two separate batters (one vanilla, and one chocolate). It was a hassle. Many more dishes, a much larger mess, and the cakes didn’t bake as evenly together as I would’ve liked. With a teething 5 month old who’s currently not letting me sleep very much anymore, I had neither the time nor the patience to entertain this tale of two batters for very long.
Instead we make a simple vanilla cake batter, and then infuse half of it with chocolate. Adding cocoa powder didn’t give me the deep, distinct chocolate flavor that I was looking for, unfortunately (largely because we aren’t adding any hot water or hot cocoa to bloom it, like we do in my favorite chocolate cake recipe), but adding melted semisweet chocolate did the trick.
Swirl this into half of the vanilla batter and then swirl the two batters together with a butterknife for a beautiful marble effect.
Hint: You can also reverse-cream this cake, using the technique I used in my caramel cake for a plush, dense crumb. If you often accidentally over-mix your cakes, it’s almost impossible to do so with the reverse-creaming method.
For the Frosting
For the frosting, I used my favorite chocolate frosting (though in the video I used my chocolate buttercream, either will work!). I wanted a rich chocolate icing to really help set off the chocolate flavor in the cake, but if you’re looking for a vanilla option, my classic buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting (or even Swiss meringue buttercream) would work well.
Storing
Store this cake in an airtight container. I recommend keeping it at room temperature, where it will keep for 2-3 days (so long as it isn’t a particularly humid environment). Marble cake may be refrigerated (in an airtight container) and will keep for about 5-7 days in the fridge, but keep in mind that the refrigerator will dry out your cake, even in a container.
More Recipes You Might Like:
Enjoy!
Be sure to check out my how-to video in the recipe card!
Marble Cake
Ingredients
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate bar finely chopped
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (113g)
- 1/2 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil) (120ml)
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar (350g)
- 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk room temperature preferred (300ml)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (see post for more frosting options)
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (170g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (226g)
- 2 cups powdered sugar (320g)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and generously grease and flour two 8" round cake pans (you may instead use 9" pans, just keep in mind you will need to bake the cake for about 5 minutes less than indicated). Set aside.
- Place chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, and then return to microwave and heat in 15-second increments, stirring well in between, until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Set aside.
- Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy (about 30 seconds on high speed).
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pause as needed to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a spatula and gently hand-mixing, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter/oil batter, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. Do not overmix!
- Pour 1/3-1/2 of the batter into a separate bowl and add chocolate mixture. Stir until completely combined and batter is evenly chocolate.
- Alternate adding vanilla and chocolate batter to each pan, evenly distributing batter into each pan. Use a knife to swirl for marbled appearance.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean but with a few moist crumbs (do not over-bake or the cake will be dry, you want there to be a few crumbs).
- Allow cake to cool for 15 minutes before carefully inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate Frosting¹
- In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate chips at 15 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until chips are completely melted. Set aside and allow to cool slightly (about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally).
- Cream room temperature butter with an electric mixer. Stir in slightly cooled chocolate and beat well.
- Gradually add sugar, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl occasionally.
- Sprinkle in salt and vanilla extract, stir well.
- Gradually add heavy cream, increase speed to high and beat for 1 minute.
- Spread a thick layer of frosting over the top of one cake round and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. Top with second cake round and evenly frost cake. Slice and serve.
Notes
Cake Flour
Cake flour may be substituted. If using weights, use the same weight indicated in the recipe. If using cups you will need to use 3 cups + 6 Tablespoons of cake flour (cake flour is lighter than all purpose, which is why the weight is the same but the volume is different).Storing
Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Keep in mind the refrigerator tends to dry out cakes and make them a bit dry!Troubleshooting
A cake that turns out dense, dry, or crumbly (or tasting like cornbread) was most likely over-mixed, the flour was over-measured, or the cake was over-baked. When mixing wet and dry ingredients together, do not use an electric mixer, use a spatula and a gentle hand to stir ingredients together until combined. If you are not using a scale for this recipe, please see my tutorial on how to measure flour. When baking, always bake in the center rack. Make sure that your oven is not running hot, as many ovens run much hotter or cooler than indicated. Keep an oven thermometer near the center of your oven to monitor the temperature, as an oven that runs hot will cook a cake too fast and dry it out. Use the toothpick test to test if your cake is done. Ideally a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake should come out with a few moist crumbs (but not wet batter). If the toothpick comes out completely clean, the cake is definitely done baking and may be bordering on being over-baked.Nutrition
This recipe was originally published 07/03/2017. Photos and post updated to be more helpful and a how-to video added 05/07/2020.Original photo:
Marla says
Hi Sam, I love so many of your recipes and am looking forward to trying this one! Do you know if you can make this in a loaf pan? I’m looking for a good marble loaf recipe but haven’t found one yet. If so do you know what the cook time may be? Thanks so much!
Sam says
Hi Marla! It will work in a loaf pan, but it may be a little too much batter. Make sure to not fill it more than 2/3 of the way full. I’m not sure what the bake time will be. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Alicia says
I used this recipe to bake a cake and it was great! But I’m wondering if it would work for cupcakes as well?
Sam says
Hi Alicia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! This will work for cupcakes as well. 🙂
Rivka says
Recipe looks easy and amazing going to try it out today
Sam says
I hope you love it, Rivka! 🙂
Mo says
Hey there! I made this recipe this spring and it was delicious! I am looking to bake it again and I am reading weighted measurements. I am unsure if I followed the written 390g for AP flour or if I reduced it down to 360g AP flour as one cup of AP flour generally weighs 120g.
When you weigh yours do you get 390g? Do you weigh or measure when you bake this recipe personally?
Thank you!! I want to reassure I get the same delicious results as it was so, so good!
Sam says
This is an older recipe, so I had it listed at 390g for the 3 cups of flour. It has been tested and works at 390g. I have since standardized my weights and use 125g for a cup of flour. It also works at 375g. Personally I ALWAYS prefer weights. It’s faster and more accurate. 🙂
Mo says
Thank you
I too prefer weight for ingredients, more accuracy as you mentioned and you can keep consistent results.
I appreciate your help! Going to do 375g.
Nikita says
Made this cake a few years ago and I’m baking this cake again! It was moist for days!! Simply outstanding!
Sam says
I’m so glad to hear it was such a success, Nikita! Thank you so much for commenting and for trying my recipe! <3
Lily says
Hello! This recipe looks amazing. I’m excited to try it.
I want to make this for a birthday. I’d like to make a 9 inch 3 layer cake. Can I use this recipe to do that?
Do I double/triple the ingredients? What baking times would you use?
Thanks
Sam says
Hi Lily! You will need to increase the recipe by 50%. Baking it in 9 inch pans will probably reduce the time just a little bit. I haven’t done it so I can’t be sure exactly how long they will need to bake. 🙂
Lily says
Thanks!
I have another question that I just thought of. I’m not sure how to increase the sugar and buttermilk by 50%.
Do you know what 1 3/4 cup sugar increased by 50% is?
And do you know what 1 1/4 cup buttermilk increased by 50% is?
My math skills are lacking haha
Thanks for all your help!
Sam says
I’m so sorry for the delayed response! I don’t know how I missed this question. To increase the sugar you can use 2 and 2/3 cups (525g) of sugar, and for the buttermilk use just over 1 3/4 cup (450 ml). It’s always easiest if you can use weights or in the case of buttermilk ml. Good luck! 🙂
Isis Peggy says
Hi there,
I would like to try to make this cake. Have you ever done this with cocoa powder instead of the chocolate bar? I have it and would like to use what I have if possible.
Sam says
I haven’t with this recipe, but cocoa powder really will dry out the cake batter and make the chocolate part too dry so you would have to compensate by adding additional liquid to the chocolate batter. How much and what exactly is difficult for me to say without having tried it myself.
Karen says
Will this make enough batter for a 9 x 13″ pan? What would the bake time be? My grandson has requested I make a marble cake in a rectangle with vanilla icing in the middle and chocolate on the sides!! He usually doesn’t eat cake so I want to bake to his specifications!!
Sam says
Hi Karen! This recipe should fit in a 9 x 13 without any issue, but I’m not sure what the bake time would be. I would just keep an eye on it. 🙂
devon says
This was absolutely delicious, I used your cream cheese icing as per the birthday girls request.
I did find they sunk a bit in the middle for me, any thoughts? It didn’t matter as you couldn’t tell and it tasted great. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Sam says
Hi Devon! I’m glad everyone enjoyed it! Sinking in the middle can be caused by either over-mixing or under-mixing the batter. Hopefully it looks better next time. 🙂
Ellen Coyne says
Chocolate buttercream frosting was WAY too salty.
I had never heard of putting a 1/2 tsp. salt into a frosting recipe before but I followed the recipe as written.
I had to throw it away and make a new batch minus the salt. The results were much more satisfying.
Sam says
I’m so sorry that happened, Ellen! Were you using salted butter by chance? If you use salted butter you definitely wouldn’t want to add the salt.
Arjumand says
Hey Sam,
I want to bake this cake for my mom’s birthday. Would this recipe bake 3 x 6 inch cake layers?
Thanks!
Sam says
Yes this should make enough for 3 6 inch cakes. 🙂
Brittany says
Hi there,
I want to bake this cake for my husband birthday. I have one 9 x 2.75in and was wondering if this recipe would make work for 1 pan or if I need to make a second layer. Also, I’ve never used this pan (but super last minute) it says it’s a “springform pan” would it work for this?
Thank you!
Sam says
Hi Brittany! You could use the springform pan here. It probably won’t hold all of the batter but it should hold more than half of the batter. Just be sure not to overfill the pan. You want to make sure not to fill the pan more than 2/3 of the way full. It will definitely need to bake longer as well. Enjoy! 🙂
Devi McBride says
Hi Sam!
I just came across this recipe and am really excited to try it. My sister requested a marble cake for her daughter’s 2nd birthday party. Will this recipe make enough for 3 – 8inch round cake pans or just 2? I’ll definitely come back and tell you how it turns out 🙂
Sam says
Hi Devi! This recipe makes a 2 layer cake. You can bake it in a 3 layer cake with the recipe as is, but the layers would be pretty thin. Alternatively you can increase the recipe by 50% to make that third layer. 🙂
Laila says
So 50% of every ingredient?
Sam says
Hi Laila! To make the 3 layer cake you will need 1.5 times all of the ingredients here. 50% more and that is for every ingredient. 🙂