Marble Cake: A Step-by-Step Recipe for Making at Home, with Photos

Marble Zebra Cake – a wonderful teatime treat that even a novice home cook can make at home using our simple step-by-step baking recipe. The cupcake is soft, tender, and airy, its marbled texture looks stunning when cut, and the combination of delicate vanilla and rich chocolate flavors is sure to please both children and adults.

Marble Cake - A Simple Step-by-Step Recipe

Nutritional value per serving

397.0 kcal

Proteins: 4.8 g
Fats: 22.0 g
Carbohydrates: 45.0 g

*Nutritional value is calculated per 100g of ingredients

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Time in the kitchen: 1 hour 10 minutes
Complexity:

A simple recipe.
Number of servings: 6

The first ones cupcakes They were baked as far back as Ancient Rome. Naturally, such luxury was originally intended for the imperial table. The unusual "marble cake" was invented by confectioners much later, around the end of the 19th century, and gained incredible popularity in Europe and the Americas.

This recipe is truly iconic, as the marble cake is made from simple and affordable ingredients, and the cooking process itself is very easy, requiring no special skills or expensive equipment.

Today we'll tell you how to bake a classic marble cake in the oven, and we'll also offer a time-tested dough recipe using softened butter and sour cream.

To make a beautiful two-color cupcake at home, we will need:

baking pan 23x11 cm (you can also use classic muffin tins);
container for mixing dough;
mixer (preferably, but you can do without it);
shoulder blade.

Step-by-step recipe for traditional marble cake

Marble Cake Step-by-Step – A Simple Homemade Recipe

Ingredients

Servings

Butter

120 G
Sugar

180 G
Egg C1

3 pcs
Sour cream 20%

130 G
Flour

200 G
Cocoa powder

2 tbsp
Baking powder

1.5 tsp
Vanilla extract

1 tbsp
Salt

1 pinch

Preparation

Step 1

In a mixing bowl, combine 120 grams of softened butter, 180 grams of sugar and a pinch of salt.

Step 2

Add a tablespoon of vanilla extract.

Can be replaced with 1 packet of vanilla sugar 8-10 grams.

Step 3

Rub the ingredients with a spatula until a homogeneous mass is obtained, as in the photo.

Step 4

Beat the mixture with a mixer for approximately 3-4 minutes.

This step is optional, you can simply mix all the ingredients well with a spatula, but after using a mixer the dough will be more airy.

Step 5

Add 3 eggs to the resulting mixture.

It is better to add eggs to the dough one at a time, mixing thoroughly at each stage.

Step 6

After adding the eggs, we get this soft and airy mass.

Step 7

Add 130 grams of sour cream and mix well again until smooth.

Our step-by-step recipe uses 20% fat sour cream, but you can also make the cake with other fat contents (15 or 25%), as well as kefir and thick yogurt. However, it's worth noting that the results may vary slightly when using other ingredients, so experiment and find what suits you best.

Step 8

Separately combine the flour and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients.

If you replaced sour cream with kefir in your recipe (or the sour cream was very sour), you can also add 0.5 teaspoon of baking soda to the flour; it will neutralize the acidity.

Step 9

Sift flour with baking powder, adding it into the dough in parts.

If you are using a mixer, knead the dough at low speed, but you can also use a hand whisk or spatula.

Step 10

At this step, we have the finished dough. It should be quite soft and airy.

Don't beat the mixture for too long, as this will compact the dough and result in a denser cake.

Step 11

Our marble cake consists of vanilla and chocolate dough, so we divide the dough into two equal parts 1:1 (if you want the vanilla or chocolate dough to predominate, you can use a 1:2 ratio) and continue, moving on to the recipe for preparing the chocolate part.

Step 12

Mix cocoa with a small amount of water (about 2 teaspoons) and knead into chocolate paste.

If you simply pour cocoa powder into the dough, it will be difficult to get rid of lumps, but the paste will dissolve easily and quickly when kneaded.

Step 13

Add the chocolate paste to the portion of dough you want to flavor and color. Mix until smooth.

The vanilla and chocolate batters should be roughly the same consistency. If one part is too runny, you can add a little flour.

Step 14

Prepare the pan by coating the inside with a thin layer of vegetable oil and dusting with flour.

If you don't like baking with vegetable (sunflower) oil, simply use silicone baking molds or line the mold with silicone paper.

Step 15

Place the dark and light dough into the pan. There's no special technique; you can create any design you like.

Step 16

To obtain a marbled pattern, additionally stir the dough in the pan using a thin skewer.

Step 17

You need to bake the marble cake in the oven at 180℃ approximately 45-50 minutes (mode "top + bottom" without convection).

Baking time may vary depending on your oven and the selected cooking mode. Check the cake's doneness the classic way: by piercing the cake with a long wooden skewer and checking for a beautiful golden brown crust.

Step 18

When the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes, then remove it from the pan.

Step 19

Our cake is ready. Even without any special decoration, it looks beautiful thanks to its marbled texture and fluffy top.

If you want to improve the marble cake recipe, you can add to the dough:

chopped nuts;
raisin;
finely chopped dried apricots;
candied fruit;
poppy;
coconut flakes.

You can also further decorate the marble cake by covering it with chocolate or icing, sprinkling it with grated nuts, coconut flakes, or topping it with fresh berries. Learn more about How to make sugar icing at home Read the materials on our website.