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Marble cake is a wonderful old-fashioned baked good, as pretty as it is delicious. The idea of marbling two different colored batters into a cake originated in nineteenth century Germany, then made its way to America with German immigrants before the Civil War. Marble cake has a Jewish history as well… in fact, the first American recipe for marble cake showed up in a Jewish cookbook!
Here is my favorite method for marbling cake. It produces a nice, even marbling result, and it’s really simple. It will work with any marble cake recipe, as long as the recipe has two different batter colors. Give it a try! 🙂
For my Marble Cake recipe, click here.
How to Marble a Cake
Learn how to marble a cake using two different colored batters, a checkerboard pattern, and a knife.
PRINT RECIPE
Email Me RecipesServings: 1 cake
Ingredients
- 1 light colored cake batter
- 1 dark colored cake batter
NOTES
You will also need: baking pan for cake batter, large spoon, butter knife.
Instructions
- Place your colored cake batters near your baking pan. Take 1/3 of the first colored batter and scoop it with a large spoon into your pan in a down-up-down pattern. If you're using a small loaf pan (as shown here), use three large dollops of batter. If you're using a round tube or bundt pan, drop dollops of batter in the same pattern--down, up, down-- all the way around the pan.
- Take 1/3 of your second colored batter. Scoop a dollop of the batter into each of the empty spaces to create a rough checkerboard pattern on the base of the pan. 1/3 of your total batter should be used at this point.
- With the second 1/3 of the batter, create a second checkerboard pattern on top of the first. Alternate colors-- meaning, if a light colored square is on the bottom, put a dark colored square on top.
- Repeat the pattern for a third and final layer with all the remaining batter. You should have three checkerboard layers in your baking pan now.
- Take your butter knife and swirl it through the batter, making rounded vertical zig-zags from one side of the pan to the other.
- Wipe the excess batter from the knife. Repeat the swirling pattern in the opposite direction. If you're using a loaf pan, make long horizontal swirls. If you're using a round tube or bundt pan, swirl opposing zig-zags all the way around the pan to create a chain shaped swirl.Resist the urge to make lots and lots of swirls-- the more you swirl, the less the cake will look marbled, and the more it will look like a mish-mosh when you slice it.
- Now your cake is marbled and ready to bake! When it's baked, cooled, and sliced, you'll see nice, evenly marbled patterns. Your cake will have its own unique variations. That's what make marble cake fun... you never know exactly what it will look like inside! 🙂 For my marble cake recipe, click here.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
How to Marble a Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1902
Calories from Fat 126
% Daily Value*
Fat 14g22%
Saturated Fat 8g50%
Sodium 3763mg164%
Potassium 242mg7%
Carbohydrates 426g142%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 223g248%
Protein 19g38%
Calcium 1091mg109%
Iron 10.7mg59%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Note: Nutrition facts above refer to yellow cake batter for 1 whole 9-inch cake.
&n
Followed these directions for my daughters birthday cake and it turned out beautiful! She wanted a marble cake but with cherry icing as she doesn’t like the icing at the store bakery. I have made a few great birthday cakes in my time as I love baking but I had never tried to take on a marble before. I have known a couple of people that tried and something just didn’t go right with them and they didn’t turn out right. Needless to say the thought has always been intimidating to me. Well, it will never intimidate me again! It wasn’t nearly as difficult as the finished product looks, and will definitely be making more in the future!
Was looking to make a marble cake and landed here just in time. Really loved the recipe and would try to make one as you instructed. Thanks for sharing the recipe. It is really helpful.
Thanks for sharing
Worth mentioning that this works best with a thick-consistency batter — I noticed it, too late, far down in the comments. This technique is a little more involved than I’m used to but I wanted to show my 11-year-old son how it’s really done. Our cakes turned out beautifully, even if our batter was a little bit thin.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing your talent and recipe with us! I truly can’t wait to give your cake a try!
Is cake flour all purpose flour.
No, it is more delicate and finer.
This cake turned out wonderfully! I doubled the recipe so I could teach a 9 year old neice how to make her own marble cake. She had so much fun making it and loved the flavour so much that she wants to make it with her mom for their next party. It was a real hit with the adults too haha.
I used red, white, and blue batter and it looks amazing! Thanks for showing me this technique!
Great idea Caitlin!
how u can make a cake of marble for served 20 peoples
Is it possoble to do 3 different colour marble?
I didn’t use the recipe, only the marbling technique. I had never marbled a cake before but this worked perfectly!! Thank you so much!
can i use oil instead of margarine?
Suri, if you are using my recipe, I do not suggest subbing oil for butter or margarine.
love the idea of marbling a cake so I will be using this method next time I bake a cake, which will be very soon so I will tell you how it goes when I am finished with it……
PS any recipes to make a donut shaped cake would be very useful. (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
I followed your directions completely. Why hy does the cake split in a couple of places?
Bonnie, I’m not sure which recipe you used – it sounds like an issue with the recipe/cake batter, not the marbling technique.
Marble cake has always been my favorite box cake mix but they have become hard to find them. I am so happy I found your recipe. Also I like the way you spoon the batter into the pan in 3 checkerboard layers. I’m going to try it very soon. One question, can you leave the batter in the checker board pattern?
Hi Joy, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! You can certainly leave the batter in the check board pattern if you prefer, though I don’t think the resulting cake will have a clear checkerboard pattern.
The vanilla pudding mix must be included the recipe
Thank you so much for these clear marbling instructions. I had decided to make a marbled cheesecake, and had the batters all separated, when I suddenly realized that, in all my years of baking, I had never marbled batter before! You to the rescue! 🙂 It worked beautifully. Thank you
Is there enough batter to make this in a bundt cake pan?
Susan this is not a recipe post. If you’re referring to the Marble Cake recipe on the linked page, no, I don’t think it’s enough for a bundt pan– just a loaf cake. I would double it.
can you use any 2 cake recipes? or does it have to be a marble cake recipe?
Hi Cal, it has to be some sort of marble cake recipe. Marble batters are made with the proper consistency for marbling, other cake batters are often too thin/runny to marble.
Thank you for this tutorial! I’ll need to make another marbled cake and try it!
Can i make this in a 8-9 inch round pan?
Hi Rebecca, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! We’ve only used this marbling method in a loaf pan, so unfortunately I can’t say for sure how well it would turn out in a round pan.