Marble Cake

4.50 from 52 reviews

Marble Cake doesn't have to have two totally different textures between the vanilla and chocolate swirls. I created a process for making marble cake so that both flavors have the same exact soft and tender crumb. This cake is so tasty and so pretty.

Prep Time25

Bake Time40

Total Time1 5

Servings:16 servings

Ingredients

3 large eggs
3 yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
12 oz buttermilk (1 ½ cups)
11 ½ oz cake flour (2 ½ cups, separated, see note)
1 tablespoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon table salt
16 oz granulated sugar (2 cups)
12 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, cut into 1" chunks)
2 ¼ oz cocoa powder (½ cup, preferably Dutch processed)

Instructions

Line two 8" cake pans with parchment paper or butter and flour the bottom of the pans (see note 2). Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
Whisk 3 large eggs, 3 yolks and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract with ¾cup (6 oz) of the buttermilk. Set Aside.
In a the bowl of a stand or a large mixing bowl, sift together 2 cups of the flour (reserve last ½ cup) with 1 tablespoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon table salt and 16 oz granulated sugar.
Mix the dry ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds to combine the ingredients.
With the mixer running, toss in 12 oz unsalted butter. Add the remaining ¾ cup of buttermilk. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 2-3 minutes until the batter gets lighter in color and texture.
Scrape the bowl and beaters. Add the egg mixture in 3 batches. Divide the batter into two equal portions.
Sift the reserved ½ cup of flour over one portion of the batter and stir it until well-combined.
Sift 2 ¼ oz cocoa powder over the other portion of batter and stir it in until well-combined.
Pour a large dollop of vanilla batter into each pan, then pour a large dollop of chocolate batter on top of the vanilla batter in each pan. Continue alternating the vanilla and chocolate batter until all the batter is gone. Shimmy the pan to settle the batter then use a small spatula to lightly smooth to an even layer. Don't over mix at this point or you'll loose the marble pattern.
Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Cool for 5 minutes in the pan then remove the cakes from the pans and set on a cooling rack and cool completely.
At this point, the cakes can be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 3 months before using.

Video

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

This batter can also be baked in as 24 cupcakes. You will need to adjust the baking time . Cupcakes will take about 15 minutes.

Nutrition