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I burned my first marble cake because I got distracted watching the swirl pattern instead of setting a timer. The chocolate swirl looked so perfect going into the oven that I completely forgot about it for 45 minutes.

Marble cake is one of those desserts that looks fancy but isn’t actually difficult to make. You’re basically making vanilla cake batter, splitting it in half, adding cocoa to one portion, then swirling them together. The hardest part is not over-mixing the swirl because you want distinct ribbons of chocolate and vanilla, not a muddy brown mess.

The technique has been around since the 1800s, and it’s stayed popular because it gives you two flavors in one cake without making two separate batters.

What It’s Used For

Marble cake works for just about any occasion where you’d serve regular cake. Birthday parties, potlucks, coffee with neighbors, or just having cake in the house because you wanted cake.

It’s particularly good when you’re serving people who can’t decide between chocolate and vanilla. Kids especially seem to love it because they get to pick which swirl they want to eat first.

Some people use it as a base for trifle or cut it into cubes for cake pops. The two-tone look makes those desserts more interesting without extra work.

How to Store It

Keep marble cake covered at room temperature for 2-3 days. I use a cake dome, but plastic wrap works fine if you tent it so it doesn’t stick to the frosting.

If you’ve frosted it with buttercream, you can refrigerate it for up to 5 days. Just bring it back to room temperature before serving because cold cake doesn’t taste as good. The texture gets dense and the flavors are muted.

For longer storage, wrap unfrosted cake tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight, then bring to room temperature. I’ve frozen frosted cake before and it works, but the frosting sometimes gets a bit weepy when it thaws.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons hot water

For the frosting (optional):

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan or two 9-inch round cake pans. Don’t skip the flouring part because this cake will stick.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set it aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. This step matters more than you’d think because it creates air pockets that make the cake tender.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter might look slightly curdled but that’s normal. Mix in vanilla extract.
5. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk in two parts. Start and end with flour. Mix on low speed just until combined after each addition. Overmixing makes tough cake.
6. Pour about half the batter into a separate bowl. Mix cocoa powder with hot water until smooth, then stir it into one portion of batter until evenly colored.
7. Spoon dollops of vanilla and chocolate batter alternately into your prepared pan. Don’t try to be too precise, it’ll look good either way.
8. Run a butter knife or skewer through the batter in a figure-8 pattern about 3-4 times. You want swirls, not a uniform blend. I used to swirl it 10+ times and ended up with brown cake.
9. Bake for 50-60 minutes for a bundt pan, or 30-35 minutes for layer pans. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
10. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If you try to remove it too early, it’ll break.

For the frosting, beat softened butter until creamy, then gradually add powdered sugar. Add cream, vanilla, and salt, then beat on high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. You can tint half of it with cocoa powder to continue the marble theme, but plain vanilla frosting is traditional.

Notes

Room temperature ingredients actually matter for this recipe. Cold eggs and milk don’t emulsify properly with the butter, and you’ll end up with a denser cake.

If your cocoa batter seems too thick, add an extra tablespoon of hot water. Different cocoa powders absorb liquid differently.

The bundt pan version doesn’t need frosting. Just dust it with powdered sugar. The layer cake version is better with frosting because the layers can be a bit dry on their own.

Don’t open the oven door for the first 25 minutes of baking. The temperature drop can make the cake sink in the middle.