The ultimate people pleaser, this soft, fluffy, moist Marble Cake is a swirled masterpiece of vanilla and chocolate. This cake is shockingly easy to make and tastes as good as it looks! Recipe includes a how-to video.
Marble Cake (AKA: The People Pleaser)
Some people like chocolate cake, some people like vanilla cake–but everyone loves this marble cake!
It’s a beautiful, swirled combination that’s perfectly chocolatey with just the right amount of vanilla. If you’ve tried and enjoyed my zebra cake, you’ll love this richer, more elegant take, minus the whipped egg whites and special ingredients. It’s simple, gorgeous, and designed to please!
This recipe is a close cousin to my popular vanilla cake; it’s wonderfully soft, moist, and so flavorful. When developing this recipe, I originally toyed with the idea of making two separate batters, but ultimately decided it was too much of a hassle. That technique produced many more dishes and a much larger mess, and the cakes didn’t bake as evenly together as I would’ve liked. After a dozen more rounds of testing, I finally figured out a way to keep things simple with one batter for both flavors.
You’ll love my recipe because it’s:
- Perfect for parties–everyone is happy!
- Soft, fluffy, and moist.
- Simple to make with just one batter.
- Cloaked with a thick and fudgy chocolate frosting (just one of many options–more below!)
What You Need
This marble cake uses basic ingredients you’ll already have on hand. Let’s go over a few of the key players:
- Butter and oil. Butter adds flavor that you would miss from using just oil, and oil adds moisture that you would miss if you only used butter.
- Flour. I use all-purpose, but cake flour may be substituted; see the notes below the recipe card.
- Baking powder. A tablespoon may seem like a lot. It’s not a typo, trust me on this one 😉.
- Buttermilk. Yes, even though we aren’t using baking soda (which is often used alongside buttermilk, if you recall my buttermilk substitute post), we are still using buttermilk. It adds flavor and moisture to the marble cake.
- Chocolate. Adding cocoa powder didn’t give me the deep, distinct chocolate flavor that I was looking for (largely because we aren’t adding any hot water to bloom it, like in my chocolate cake recipe), but adding melted semisweet chocolate did the trick. You can use semisweet or dark chocolate here depending on your preference.
SAM’S TIP: If you only have salted butter on hand, you can reduce the salt in the recipe to ½ teaspoon.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Marble Cake
- Heat your chopped chocolate in the microwave until it’s smooth and melted, then set aside.
- Cream the butter, oil, and sugar until fluffy, then stir in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then alternate adding this mixture and the buttermilk to the wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Portion ⅓-½ of the batter into a separate bowl and add stir in the melted chocolate until uniform.
- Alternate adding the vanilla and chocolate batter into your pans, then swirl them with a knife for a marbled appearance.
- Bake your cakes for 30 minutes, let them cool in their pans for 15 minutes, then invert them onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
SAM’S TIP: You can also reverse-cream this marble cake (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.
Frequently Asked Questions
I like using my favorite chocolate frosting (though in the video I used my chocolate buttercream; either will work!). If you’re looking for a vanilla option, my classic buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, Swiss meringue buttercream, or German buttercream would work well.
There are a few causes for a dry cake, but the main reasons are over-measuring your flour, overmixing, or overbaking.
I use a kitchen scale to measure my ingredients to avoid over-measuring my flour, as this is a very common mistake. I suggest you do the same! Once you begin combining the dry and wet ingredients, you want to be very careful to mix until just combined–and don’t use a mixer. Finally, you want to bake your marble cake until a toothpick comes out clean, or preferably, with a few moist crumbs; many ovens run hot though, so you’ll want to start checking your cake a few minutes before it should be done.
Follow these tips and your marble cake should turn out perfectly moist every time!
Store your marble 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). This cake may be refrigerated (again, 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.
It’s always exciting to see the beautiful swirls when you cut into a marble cake!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Marble Cake
Ingredients
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate bar finely chopped
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened (113g)
- ½ cup canola oil (or vegetable oil) (120ml)
- 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar (350g)
- 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ 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)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ 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 ⅓-½ 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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Savanna
Do you have any pointers/suggestions for making this is into a 1/2 sheet cake size (actual size 16x11x2)? And would doubling the recipe beed needed/enough?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Savanna! If you increase the ingredients by 50%, you should have enough batter to fill your pan. Your bake time will be different, so keep an eye on it. Let us know how it turns out for you 😊
Savanna
I’ll be sure to tag you on Instagram. 😉Thank you! 😋
Sydney
You said in the recipe you can reverse-cream this cake. Is there any other necessary changes to the recipe to do this? Can you still do this?
Sam
Hi Sydney! There are no alterations needed to the recipe. You will just need to follow the steps outlined in the caramel cake. 🙂
Mikayla
hi quick question would I half to do anything to the recipe if I used nine inch round pans that are about an inch in height, also should I make only one batch for two layers of this size pan. Oh how high do these cakes rise
Sam
Hi Mikayla! This will bake in a 9 inch cake pan but if it’s only an inch tall you’ll definitely want to make sure you don’t overfill it. I normally don’t fill my pans much more than half-2/3 of the way full.
Alicia
Doubled the chocolate in the cake (it just seemed very light and not very chocolatey for my taste). The cake was absolutely delicious and looked amazing! I also didn’t follow the buttercream exactly. I basically followed a normal vanilla buttercream and added warm melted chocolate and it tasted great. Love this recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re happy to hear that it turned out for you, Alicia! Enjoy 😊
Dina Marsidi
Perfect recipe! My kids loved it and it was gone in almost a day. Wanted to make again but ran out of chocolate. Can I use cocoa powder instead? 😅
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy everyone loved it, Dina! Unfortunately we don’t recommend using cocoa powder with this recipe because it dries out the cake.
Mary
Hello. My husband requested a marble cake for his birthday. I chose your recipes for cake and frosting because weighed amounts were listed. Weighing ingredients has always been a surer outcome of success for me. The instructions for both recipes were complete and easy to follow. The hand mixing method for the alternately added dry and wet ingredients produced layers of exceptional tenderness and height. I used a Ghirardelli semi sweet baking bar for the cake and a 3/4 semi sweet chip/1/4 bittersweet chip mix for the frosting. The frosting worked well for spreading and piping decorations. However, there just enough to fill and cover 2 8” layers. This cake is delicious and I’ve been asked to make it again. Thank you.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Mary! 🙂
Teresa
Hi I’m wanting to do this as wedding cake 3 layers a 9inch and 12 inch can I just double this mixture and triple
It for the 12 inch
Sam
Hi Teresa! I’m not sure exactly what size cakes you are making. This recipe will make about 8 cups of batter, which is enough to make a 2 layer 8 or 9 inch cake. A 12 inch round pan also holds about 8 cups of batter. I hope this helps. 🙂
Julie
Hi Sam,
I did a trial run of this cake as I am making it in a few weeks for my gorgeous nephews baptism. It turned out beautiful and very soft. I will be using a 10” cake tin and a few layers for extra height. Would you recommend putting one batch of this cake mix into the tin or would that be too much batter? Also is it possible to get the eggs amount in grams as here in Australia our large eggs weigh approx 52 grams.
Thank you
Sam
Hi Julie! I’m glad you enjoyed the test run! The 10″ pan probably won’t hold all of the batter that this cake makes. Unfortunately I haven’t weighed the eggs to give you a good gram measurement, but it sounds like yours are pretty comparable to mine if it turned out well the first time. 🙂
Danielle Oliver
Hi Sam.i’m a BIGGG FAN of your recipes. i tried too much to count but thank u so for always having good measurements.
And that poor blue kitchen aid lolollloll
Tina
Hello. I need to make a sheet cake for 30 guests. Can this recipe be tripled?
Thank you so much.
Sam
Hi Tina! This cake does have the potential to be over-mixed so I may be hesitant to do it all in one batch. It’s not impossible to make in one shot but it may be better to make in a couple of different batches. 🙂
Abby
Does this cake freeze well?
Sam
Hi Abby! You shouldn’t have any issues freezing this cake. 🙂
Ashley
Hi! I’m making a 3 layer cake, and the pans are 2 inches in height. How much batter should I make… like doubling the recipe or tripling? Thanks in advance!
Sam
You will want to increase it by 50%. 🙂
Rosie
Hi Sam!! Can I make these into cupcakes? If so, how long should I put it in the oven for?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rosie! We haven’t done this ourselves, but we think it should work fine. The temperature would stay the same and they will probably bake for about 17 minutes. 🙂
Jackie
Can I substitute almond flour .
Sam
Hi Jackie! I haven’t tied it so I’m not sure how it would turn out. 🙁
Sarah
Can I make cupcakes with this recipe as opposed to a cake? Can you recommend a temperature to bake at and a time frame?
Sam
Hi Sarah! I haven’t tried it but it could would. The temperature would stay the same and they will probably bake for about 17 minutes. 🙂
Jennifer Lockamy
Can I use chocolate chips in substitution for the bar?
Sam
Hi Jennifer! I haven’t tried it, but if you do I would recommend using a high quality chocolate chip like ghiradelli. 🙂
Amrita
Made this cake yesterday and came out just as the recipe!!!!absolutely love it!!!!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Amrita! 🙂