Name: Chocolate marble pound cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Cuisine: French
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)

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Here’s my favorite chocolate marble pound 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 one, just thinking about it I’m drooling!

It’s light, fluffy, and moist but not too moist. It has a thin crust contrasting with the best crumbs ever inside and the chocolate part actually tastes like chocolate. It’s a pretty simple recipe as this chocolate marble pound cake can be in your oven in 20 min, tops!

Go to:

👩🏻‍🍳 For beginners
📋 Step by step
❄️ Freezing
📖 Variations

👩🏻‍🍳 For beginners

Sadly, I cannot give myself the credit for this chocolate marble pound cake as a lunch lady gave the recipe to my mother 30 years ago. My mum absolutely hates cooking and before meeting my dad was mainly living on yogurt and fruits. Nevertheless, she would sometimes take it upon herself to bake this chocolate marble pound cake for us. Coming home from school we would smell it as soon as we stepped inside and it always was a great surprise. Listen, if my mum can make this cake, so can anyone.

I am not overselling this cake because I love my mum. It genuinely is delicious and comforting. All my friends have asked me for the recipe at one time or another. If you’re looking for something to bake with little ones or just an easy and quick recipe, this cake is just perfect!

📋 Step by step

→ MAKE THE BATTER AND DIVIDE IT

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. Then mix in the oil and milk. Gradually whisk in the sieved flour and baking powder. And voilà your vanilla batter is ready! Now, pour ⅓ of the vanilla batter into a smaller bowl.

→ MAKE THE CHOCOLATE BATTER AND FINISH THE CAKE

chocolate marble pound cake batter in the pan

Sift the cocoa powder into this smaller bowl and whisk until completely combined. Now you have your two batters! Pour the batters into a greased loaf pan, alternating the layers of vanilla and chocolate batters. Swirl a blade into the batters to create a marble effect. Bake the chocolate marble pound cake according to the instructions.

❄️ Freezing

This chocolate marble pound 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 it in the freeze for up to 6 months.

You can either:

freeze it whole once cooled. First, wrap the chocolate marble pound cake tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and then one layer of foil.
freeze individual slices, wrap them in the same way and then place them into a large freezing bag.

In both cases, defrost at room temperature, still wrapped, for a few hours.

chocolate marble pound cake on cutting board

📖 Variations

This chocolate marble pound cake recipe has been used in my family for three decades so it is only natural that 3 (just as delicious) alternatives came from it over the years. If you want to change things up you can make a:

Bundt cake: Follow the exact same steps but double the ingredients.
plain chocolate loaf cake: Don’t separate the batter and don’t add any vanilla extract. Use 6 tbsp of cocoa powder for the batter instead of 3.
plain vanilla loaf cake: Don’t separate the batter, and don’t add any cocoa powder. Add an additional 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the batter.

Chocolate marble pound cake

Author: Amélie
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yield: 1 cake 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Oven
Cuisine: French

Print Recipe

Description

My mum’s chocolate marble pound cake is light and springy but remains tender for days. The subtle vanilla and rich chocolate flavors go hand in hand and the cake can be in your oven in 20 min, tops!

Ingredients

Scale

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-sized 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 in the middle of the oven. 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 before serving.