• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cake Journal

  • Cake Lounge
    • Easy Embossed Cookies Recipe
    • How to Make Heart-Shaped Cake with Buttercream Roses
  • Desserts
    • Best 3 Cookie Scoop Sizes and How to Use Them?
    • Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Review and Tutorial
  • Recipes
    • Traditional Castella Cake Recipe
    • Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting (Easy Recipe)
    • Best Frozen-Themed Cake Ideas with Images
  • Tips & tools
    • What to Do With Cake Scraps? (8 Easy Recipes)
    • Luster Dust: If You Don’t Know About It, You Need To!
    • How To Use Edible Glue and How to Make It
    • How to Use Russian Piping Tips and Tutorial
    • What Is Wafer Paper and How to Use It? (Video Tutorials)
  • Tutorials
    • How To Make Royal Icing (Easy Recipe)
    • How to Flood Cookies with Royal Icing?
    • How To Use Candy Molds Properly
    • How to Make Cake Pops: Easy Step-by-Step Tutorial
    • Fondant On Cookies: Easy Way To Decorate
  • About Us
  • Contact

Marvelous Marble Cake Recipe: Ingredients, Steps, and Tips

May 16, 2022 by Louise Leave a Comment

Marble cakes, like checkerboard cakes, have a long history, which runs all the way back to the German immigrants of the pre-Civil War era. Marble cake, or Marmokuchen in the original German, was the technique of combining two different cake batters and creating a marbling effect. To create a darker batter, currants, molasses, spices, raisins, and even coffee were used.

Lucky for us, Jewish German bakers eventually introduced the idea of using chocolate to create the darker batter.

In the marble cake recipe below we use a recipe by Luisa Weiss. The recipe calls for white chocolate to be added to the plain batter to give it a certain dimension and depth that is very satisfying. The marble cake recipe results in a lighter texture cake with a lovely tea time feel.

Luisa’s cookbook takes the time to break down the culture and background of each one of her recipes in this book. The National Baking Society calls Luisa’s cookbook beautiful and “necessary”.

STEP-BY-STEP MARBLE CAKE RECIPE

A few tips from Luisa include baking the cake the day before, as the cake gets better with age, and that if you’re using a Bundt pan it’s best not to fill it to the top as this cake rises a lot thanks to the full tablespoon of baking soda.

On the National Baking Society blog, the writer makes 10-12 mini Bundt cakes with the batter, making these perfect as gifts or party favors. These were cute and portable, and the center can be filled with cream or frosting.

You could use an ice scream scope to create a checkerboard pattern in your pan Bundt pan or pans before swirling the batter to give it the marble effect.

[amazon fields=”0544453735″ value=”thumb” image_size=”large” image_align=”center”]

[amazon fields=”0544453735″ value=”button”]

The marble cake recipe below is an adaptation from the cookbook Marble Cake from Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss.

Marvelous Marble Cake

What You Need to Make Marble Cake:

  • 3 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 3 ½ ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • 18 tablespoons unsalted high-fat, Euro-style butter, softened
  • 1 ¼ cups sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoons whole milk
  • Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

[amazon fields=”B008LYE4HC” value=”thumb” image_size=”large” image_align=”center”]

[amazon fields=”B008LYE4HC” value=”button”]

How to Make the Marble Cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 350℉, placing the rack in the bottom third of the oven. Butter and flour a Gugelhupf or Bundt pan.
  • Put the bittersweet and white chocolate into two separate small stainless-steel bowls that can be set over a small saucepan of simmering water, or in microwave-safe bowls. Melt the chocolates, one bowl at a time, over the saucepan of simmering water or in the microwave in small bursts, stirring after every few bursts. Set aside to cool.
  • Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater attachment. Add the sugar and salt and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition, until the mixture is well combined.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Beat the flour into the butter mixture. Then scrape out two-thirds of the batter into a medium bowl and stir all the melted white chocolate into the large batch of batter until no streaks remain.
  • Add the melted bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and milk to the remaining one-third of the batter and beat until fully combined and no streaks remain.
  • Scrape half of the white batter into the prepared cake pan. Top with bittersweet batter. Then scrape the remaining white batter on top. Using swooping motions, drag the blade of a knife through the batter to create a marbled cake.

How to Bake Your Cake:

  • Place the pan in the oven and bake for 60 minutes, or until the white part of the cake is golden brown and a tester comes out clean. Bundt pan users: start testing earlier (45 minutes) and mini-Bundt users test around the 18-minute mark.
  • Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before unmolding it onto the rack and letting it cool upside down. When the cake has cooled completely, dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired, and serve.

Enjoy Your Perfect Marble Cake!

The cake can be made a day ahead. Any leftovers will keep, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 3 days at room temperature.

The cake will come out moist and slightly sweet. The white chocolate will add a hint of thickness to the vanilla flavor, while the chocolate will give that comforting depth. These cakes are paired very well with tea or coffee.

Baking this will be a trip down memory lane, as well as a nod to all the moms, grandmothers, and great grandmothers who served these to their own family and friends.

[amazon fields=”B071SGZQ41″ value=”thumb” image_size=”large” image_align=”center”][amazon fields=”B071SGZQ41″ value=”button”]

Remember to wait until the next day to really enjoy these! But we won’t tell if you cheat.

Previous Post: « 3 Of Our Favorite Spice Cake Recipes
Next Post: Bundt Cake Recipes and Serving Tips »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search Recipes on Cake Journal:

About Us

Kristen is the author of Cake Journal and a graduate of the Professional Baking program at Renton Technical College. She has worked as a pastry chef at a top Seattle restaurant and loves sharing her passion for baking amazing cakes on this site.

Contact Me

Privacy Policy

As Seen On:

Follow Us on Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Cake Journal