Here’s my favorite chocolate marble cake recipe and I’ve tried a few others. But compared to this one they always disappointed me. They were either too dry, too bland, too moist, or really just okay. But this chocolate marble cake, just thinking about it I’m drooling. It’s light, fluffy, moist but not too moist, it has a thin crust contrasting with the best crumbs ever and the chocolate part actually tastes like chocolate.
After tasting it I’m 100% the others will pale in comparison. It’s a pretty simple cake and it is a thing of beauty. This chocolate marble cake can be in the oven in 20 min tops and I promise you, everyone will ask for a second slice.
THE SIMPLEST RECIPE
It’s a very straightforward and simple recipe. Even a child could do it, and I did it a lot as a child/teenager when my mum wasn’t feeling like baking or when we had to bring baked goods for a school fundraiser (and these chocolate marble cake slices were always selling like crazy: proof of concept). I can still remember the ingredients list and the recipe by heart. So if you’re looking for a recipe to do with little ones or just an easy & quick recipe here you go.
Seriously not much can go wrong, it’s a simple one-bowl(ish) recipe. But let me warn you, after tasting it, you’re gonna start craving this chocolate marble cake more and more often.
→ First, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. Then mix in the vegetable oil and milk. Gradually whisk in sieved flour and baking powder. And voilà your vanilla batter is ready!
→ Nothing could be easier than making the chocolate batter. Pour ⅓ of the vanilla batter into a smaller bowl. Sift the cocoa powder into this smaller bowl and whisk until completely combined. Now you have your two batters! Alternate layering the batters in a greased loaf pan. Then gently swirl a butter knife blade into the batters to create a marble effect. All you have to do left is to bake your chocolate marble cake.
HOW TO FREEZE
When it comes to cooking & baking, your freezer can be a life-saver! This chocolate marble cake freezes really well so if you want to preserve it at its utmost freshness or if you want to bake it in advance, don’t hesitate to freeze it! You can keep the chocolate marble cake for up to 6 months in the freezer
You can either:
- freeze the whole cake once cooled. First, wrap it into two layers of plastic wrap and one layer of foil.
- freeze individual slices, wrapped in the same way.
In both cases, defrost at room temperature, still wrapped, for a few hours.
When my sister visits my dad, she doubles the quantities and bakes the cake in a big bundt pan. Then my dad slices the cake, freezes individual portions and defrosts a slice of chocolate marble cake when he’s got a craving (once a day I’m pretty sure, even though he tries to make it last until my sister visits again).
A CAKE FOR THE AGES
Sadly I cannot give myself the credit for this chocolate marble cake as the recipe was given to me by my mother, who in turn got it from a lunch lady 30 years ago. My mum was never much of a baker or a cook, and I can’t blame her. She had other fish to fry what with taking care of 2 children, having a full-time job and dealing with most of the house chores. She didn’t find comfort and joy in food as I did. Nevertheless from time to time, coming home from school we would smell this delicious chocolate marble cake as soon as we stepped inside. It would always be the nicest of surprises and I can easily recall myself eating a huge slice of cake on our patio while reading Harry Potter, trying to enjoy every last minute before having to do my homework.
Don’t worry, I’m not overselling this chocolate marble cake cake because of great childhood memories and love for my mum, it genuinely is great. All my friends have asked me for this recipe at one time or another.
Are you looking for other cake recipes? Here are some of my favorites:
- Revani (Turkish poppy seed and semolina sheet cake)
- Caramel brownies
- Cauldron cakes
Chocolate marble cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: French
Description
The most comforting cake of all; my mum’s chocolate marble cake. It’s light and fluffy but still moist with a deep chocolaty taste. And it can be in your oven in 20 min, tops!
Ingredients
- 250g all-purpose flour (1 ¾ cups)
- 11g baking powder (1 tbsp)
- 250g light brown sugar (1 ¼ cups)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 120ml whole milk (½ cup)
- 120ml vegetable oil (½ cup), I used rapeseed oil
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 26*10cm (10*4 inch) nonstick loaf pan thoroughly with a little extra vegetable oil. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a medium-size bowl.
- Make the vanilla & chocolate batters. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add the milk and oil and whisk again until completely combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix well between each addition. Once the batter is smooth and there are no more lumps, pour ⅓ of the batter into a smaller bowl. Sift the cocoa powder into this smaller bowl and whisk until completely combined. Both your vanilla and chocolate batters are ready!
- Swirl the batters. Pour ⅓ of the vanilla batter into the greased loaf pan. Use a tablespoon to drop ⅓ of the chocolate batter all over the vanilla one. Keep alternating these layers until you run out of batter. Gently swirl the blade of a butter knife or the tip of a kitchen thermometer (be careful not to touch the base of the non-stick pan) into the batters to create a marble effect. Don’t overdo it so as not to combine the batters.
- Bake. Bake the cake for 45 min. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. If it’s not, bake the cake for an additional 5 min and check again. Cool the chocolate marble cake for 15 min in the pan before unmolding. Allow to cool down completely on a wire rack. Optionally, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar just before serving.
Notes
The chocolate marble cake will keep, wrapped airtight in foil, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
For a plain vanilla loaf cake, do not put the cocoa powder but add an additional 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
For a plain chocolate loaf cake, skip the vanilla extract and add 6 tbsp of cocoa powder in total to the dry ingredients.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 314
Keywords: easy desserts to make at home, traditional french dessert, french cakes
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