If you’re looking for a fluffy, moist marble cake that is going to WOW your family and friends, then this recipe is it! Soft layers of vanilla and chocolate cake are combined together and topped with a whipped chocolate ganache frosting – YUM! It comes together so easily using only one recipe that’s based on my 5 star rated vanilla cake recipe, which I promise will not disappoint!
What is a marble cake?
A marble cake is a type of cake that gets its name from the distinct marbled pattern it has when sliced. It is made by combining two different flavors of cake batter, usually vanilla and chocolate, in a way that creates a swirling effect.
Sometimes this effect also creates zebra like patterns (like the design I have chosen), so it’s also referred to as a zebra cake.
How do you make marble cake?
This cake surprisingly comes together very easily, despite how complicated it may look!
Begin by preheating your oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 4 on recipe card below if you don’t have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine – see note 2 on recipe card below), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Add in your vanilla, vinegar and half a cup of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3 on recipe card below).
Divide the batter equally into two separate bowls (I would recommend weighing the batter to make sure you have an even amount in each bowl. Mine comes to around 685g each once divided).
To one half of the batter, add in the cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and vegetable oil. Fold with a spatula until just combined.
Divide the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins. You can use your own marbling technique or use the method I like to use which gives you a very cool pattern on the inside.
To do this, place 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter in the middle of each cake tin. Spread out a little and then directly on top of it add in 3 tablespoons of the vanilla cake batter. Repeat these steps alternating between the two flavours. Every now and then I like to gently shake/twirl the cake tin to help the batter spread out towards the edges of the cake tin (I would recommend watching the video below for a demonstration of this technique).
Once all the batter is used up, gently shake the tins again to help even out the batter, and gently tap them on your countertop twice to remove any large air bubbles.
OPTIONAL: If you won’t be icing your cake, then you create a nice flower like pattern on the top of your cake. To do this, place a toothpick at the edge of the cake tin, and drag it into the middle of the cake tin and lift it out. Wipe the toothpick clean and then do the same thing on the opposite side of the cake tin. Now keep doing this, working your way around the cake tin (I do it 8 times in total). I would recommend watching the video demonstration below as it’s a little hard to explain! 🙂
Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once done, let the cakes cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
How to make Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Chop up your chocolate into small pieces (no need to do this if using chocolate callets) and place in a heat proof bowl.
Place the cream in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and heat it up until it begins to gently bubble. Once it’s gently bubbling, immediately take it off the heat (you don’t want to overheat the cream) and pour it over the chocolate.
Allow the chocolate/cream mixture to sit for 5 minutes untouched. After 5 minutes, stir with a spatula and then using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Keep the immersion blender on the bottom of the bowl to prevent air bubbles getting into the ganache.
Pour the ganache into a wide baking tray/dish (this will allow it to cool quicker), and cover it with cling wrap so that it’s touching the top of the ganache. This will prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Place it in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow it to thicken up and become very cold. You can also do this step the day beforehand.
Once ready, pour the ganache into a bowl and whip until you reach stiff peaks. It comes together quite quickly so be careful not to overwhip the cream. Use it to frost your marble cake 🙂
How to assemble your marble cake
Begin by placing your first cake layer onto your cake stand and smooth out a generous amount of the whipped ganache frosting on top.
Then place your next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more whipped ganache. I like to smooth out the sides with my cake scraper.
Finish off the top with some piping. I used a 1M piping tip. After that, cut a slice and enjoy!
Fluffy Marble Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 2¼ cups (300 g) flour - regular all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornflour - also known as cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ½ cup (105 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1⅔ cups (332 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1¼ tbsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1½ cups (337 g) buttermilk - room temperature, see note 5 if using a homemade buttermilk substitute
Extra Ingredients for Chocolate Portion of Cake
- ⅓ cup (33 g) cocoa powder - unsweetened, dutch processed preferred
- 1 tsp instant coffee powder
- 1 tbsp unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting
- 3 cups (675 g) cream - minimum fat percentage of 34%
- 1⅔ cups (270 g) dark chocolate - I use 50% dark chocolate, semi-sweet okay too
Instructions
- IMPORTANT: For this recipe I would highly recommend using gram measurements, especially for the flour for accurate results. It has a high fat/liquid ratio so slight adjustments to the quantities can throw off the balance of the cake 🙂
- If using the whipped dark chocolate ganache frosting, then I would recommend making it before you start on the cake as it needs time to cool in the fridge before whipping (instructions for making the ganache are after the vanilla cake).
Vanilla Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 4 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in your vanilla, vinegar and half a cup of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Divide the batter equally into two separate bowls (I would recommend weighing the batter to make sure you have an even amount in each bowl. Mine comes to around 685g each once divided).
- To one half of the batter, add in the cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and vegetable oil. Fold with a spatula until just combined.
- Divide the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins. You can use your own marbling technique or use the method I like to use which gives you a very cool pattern on the inside. To do this, place 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter in the middle of each cake tin. Spread out a little and then directly on top of it add in 3 tablespoons of the vanilla cake batter. Repeat these steps alternating between the two flavours. Every now and then I like to gently shake/twirl the cake tin to help the batter spread out towards the edges of the cake tin (I would recommend watching the video below for a demonstration of this technique).
- Once all the batter is used up, gently shake the tins again to help even out the batter, and gently tap them on your countertop twice to remove any large air bubbles.
- OPTIONAL: If you won't be icing your cake, then you create a nice flower like pattern on the top of your cake. To do this, place a toothpick at the edge of the cake tin, and drag it into the middle of the cake tin and lift it out. Wipe the toothpick clean and then do the same thing on the opposite side of the cake tin. Now keep doing this, working your way around the cake tin (I do it 8 times in total). I would recommend watching the video demonstration below as it's a little hard to explain! 🙂
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once done, let the cakes cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the whipped chocolate ganache or another frosting of your choice.
Whipped Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Chop up your chocolate into small pieces (no need to do this if using chocolate callets) and place in a heat proof bowl.
- Place the cream in a saucepan over a low-medium heat and heat it up until it begins to gently bubble. Once it's gently bubbling, immediately take it off the heat (you don't want to overheat the cream) and pour it over the chocolate.
- Allow the chocolate/cream mixture to sit for 5 minutes untouched. After 5 minutes, stir with a spatula and then using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Keep the immersion blender on the bottom of the bowl to prevent air bubbles getting into the ganache.
- Pour the ganache into a wide baking tray/dish (this will allow it to cool quicker), and cover it with cling wrap so that it's touching the top of the ganache. This will prevent a skin from forming as it cools. Place it in the fridge for at least a few hours to allow it to thicken up and become very cold. You can also do this step the day beforehand.
- Once ready, pour the ganache into a bowl and whip until you reach stiff peaks. It comes together quite quickly so be careful not to overwhip the cream. Use it to frost your marble cake 🙂
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
134 Comments
this was too good. fluffy, moist, and the sweet was just nice. thank you for your recipes! ☺️ just a quick question, how do i get rid of cracks at the top of the cake?
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Kathija! 😀 In terms of the cracks, it’s most likely due to the oven being too hot, so I would recommend reducing the temperature slightly, or you can also use cake strips which may help 🙂
thanks
Thank you for this recipe I tried it out my cake was so soft and delicious! I love this recipe!My Family loved it.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Ariffa! 😀
Is it ok if I use 600g cream instead of 675
Hi Areebah! Yes that’s fine your ganache will just be slightly thinner 🙂
I baked this cake over the weekend and I loved it so much. The texture and taste was so on point. Keep the recipes coming.
Much Love from Ghana, West Africa
So so happy to hear that Adwoa! Much love from NZ to Ghana 🙂
Hello and thank you for sharing your recipes. I truly enjoy watching you create in the kitchen.
I tried this recipe and it tasted like raw unsweetened flour and my cake was not as “fluffy” as the one in your video. I am going to attempt it again but with cake flour this time and a little more sugar to see if that helps.
Hi Jamila! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the videos 🙂 but so sorry to hear your cake didn’t quite turn out how you’d hoped! I wouldn’t recommend adding more sugar as it sounds like there was perhaps too much liquid already in your batter and sugar will just make that worse as sugar is often considered a wet ingredient. I would highly recommend using the gram measurements for accuracy. Also the creaming process is key with this cake and gives it it’s fluffiness, so you want to make sure the butter isn’t too soft and can hold the air that’s being whipped into it. Hope that helps 🙂
Hello again! I did use gram measurements for the last cake. I honestly believe it was the all purpose flour. I prefer cake flour. I had a similar result when I ran out of cake flour and used all purpose flour to make a 7up cake.
I probably should have led with this. I had a wedding cake to do this weekend. I used the recipe with a few tweaks one being cake flour instead of all purpose flour, the second to the chocolate portion and I increased the sugar. The cake was absolutely perfect. Nice and fluffy, fork tender, moist and did not taste like raw flour. The bride and groom said it was some of the most amazing cake they’d ever eaten. Thank you again the recipe.
So so happy to hear it all worked out Jamila and that the bride and groom loved the cake! 😀
Hi Maryam!
This marble cake was so soft and fluffy… my family loved it.. thanks for sharing this recipe
Thanks
Kavita
Awesome! So happy to hear that Kavita 🙂
Don’t understand the White vinegar. Can this be omitted or is there an alternative .
Hi Gail! The vinegar helps to make the cake super fluffy 🙂 you can omit it if you prefer but if you have white vinegar then definitely put it in!
Hello,
I have tried this recipe today and it was really yummy! Many thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Could I please ask your advice on a couple od pointers?
1) My cake rises beautifully when in the oven and when I took it our and while it was cooling it sinks (not just in the middle the whole cake!)
2) also there is crust on the top and side how do I eliminate this from forming?
I use fan oven at 160c for 34 minutes and did not open the oven door at all in between. Many thanks in advance.
Hi Nisha! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe 🙂 in terms of your questions, firstly the top of the cake does shrink a little, as in the ‘doming’ reduces once taken out of the oven so you have a more flat cake layer, but the entire cake shouldn’t shrink. This could be due to too much fat/liquid in the batter (I would recommend using the gram measurements if you didn’t already), the cake may have been slightly underbaked, or the butter/sugar may have been over creamed. In terms of the crust, this can be reduced by using cake strips on your pan, and also baking for longer at a lower temp (although this is not ideal for some cake recipes). Hope that helps 🙂
Hi Maryam
Many thanks for your reply and I hope you are keeping well?
I believe my entire cake was quite dense and as not as fluffy as the one is your video. I did use gram measurements for everything except the baking soda etc where you have provided the teaspoon/ tablespoon measurements. The only thing I did do different was I did use the hand mixer a few seconds after folding in the dry ingredients as the batter didn’t look smooth and had clumps (is that normal and ok?)
I will defo be trying the recipe again and will take your pointers on board and reduce the creaming of butter and sugar and maybe leave the cake in the over for a few minutes longer.
Many thanks Maryam 🙂
I am keeping well thank you and hope you are too! 🙂 Another thing could be the buttermilk – not sure if you used a homemade version or store bought, but if using a homemade version then you will need to reduce the quantity. In terms of mixing the batter with the hand mixer, if it was only for a few seconds I don’t think this would be too much of a problem, although I would recommend sticking to the hand mixing 🙂 also when creaming the butter you want to make sure your butter is not too soft or too firm so that air can be whipped into it and becomes nice and fluffy. Hope this helps and all the best!
Thank you for sharing! I made this for my father’s birthday this weekend, the whipped cream frosting went EXACTLY to plan—-the cake was so good, but a little dry and I think between possibly over-baking and using the 1 cup substitute of DIY buttermilk was the culprit. He didn’t mind and asked to take the entire cake home. 🤣.
Keep the recipes coming! My 5yo daughter loves watching your videos (especially the cake pops!).
Thanks!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cake Shelly and that your dad loved it! Yes try checking the cake earlier and hopefully this will help 🙂 the substitute could have also contributed to the difference in texture. Glad you enjoyed it anyway 🙂 say hi to your daughter for me!!
I tried to modify by separately beating egg white to stiff peaks and adding into the separated vanilla and chocolate batter.
I baked it at 175deg normal oven for 50 mins. The end results were bad as the white part was cooked and fluffy but the chocolate part was like uncooked gluten.
I mixed the coco powder into warm milk and poured into half of the vanilla batter.
Can this be the mistake MK?
Hi Kevin 🙂 Sorry to hear the cake didn’t quite turn out how you’d hoped! There could be a few reasons why that method didn’t work. The ratio of ingredients used in this recipe is specifically for the ‘creaming’ method of making cake, so you would need to do some experimenting if translating the recipe into a more sponge cake method of making cake which is what I believe you tried to do 🙂 the warm milk may have affected the chocolate portion of the recipe as the heat may have deflated the meringue and therefore resulted in a very dense cake. If trying this method again, then best not to use the warm milk element 🙂 hope that helps!
I love your videos and recipes. I am looking forward to making this cake for Father’s Day.
Thanks Vee! Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂