The idea of marbling two different colored batters into a cake originated in nineteenth century Germany. Marble cakes made their way to America with German immigrants before the Civil War. Originally the cakes were marbled with molasses and spices.
One of the first recorded recipes for marble cake appears in an American cookbook called Aunt Babette’s Cook Book: Foreign and Domestic Receipts for the Household, published in 1889. This recipe replaced the traditional molasses and spice batter by marbling melted chocolate into the cake, a reflection of a new American obsession with chocolate.
The cake remained popular throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food by Gil Marks, “Many Jewish bakeries in the New York area in the 1950’s through the 1970’s would distinctively add a small amount of almond extract to the chocolate marble cake, creating a version sometimes referred to as a ‘German Marble Cake’ that had a characteristic almond aroma.”
What do you need to make marble cake?
This is my recipe for marble cake, which has become a family favorite over the past few years. I flavor my marble cake with almond extract as a nod to the classic German Jewish recipes. It’s a fairly simple recipe.
All you need for this traditional version is vanilla cake batter, chocolate cake batter, a mixing bowl (no need for separate bowls – I have a trick for avoiding extra dishes), and a loaf pan!
How do you make a marble cake from scratch moist?
In a slightly modern twist, I add dry instant vanilla pudding mix to my batter. This little trick is a fantastic way to add moisture and flavor to your cakes; it also helps to thicken the batter, which provides the perfect texture for marbling.
Be sure to use instant pudding mix, not cook-and-serve; just sift the dry mix in with the dry ingredients. It creates a wonderful texture and locks in moisture so the cake doesn’t dry out as quickly. It also gives a lovely vanilla essence to the batter, which blends nicely with the almond extract. They certainly weren’t doing it this way in Germany 150 years ago, but sometimes it’s fun to improve on tradition. Try it!
For instructions on how to marble a cake, click here.
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Marble Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/2 cup dry instant vanilla pudding mix (about one small 3.4 oz package)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup very hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, vanilla pudding mix (in dry powdered form), baking powder, and salt.
- In a larger mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to whip together the butter, sugar, eggs and almond extract for a few minutes till the mixture turns light yellow.
- Beat in half of the milk and half of the sifted flour mixture, then beat in the remaining milk and flour mixture. Whip until the batter is smooth and creamy and be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Rinse and dry the medium mixing bowl that you used for the sifted flour; you’ll need it again soon. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and 1/3 cup of very hot water till smooth.
- Pour a little less than half of the cake batter into the medium mixing bowl that you rinsed out. Whisk in the cocoa powder/water mixture till fully combined and smooth. This is your chocolate marbling batter.Reserve the rest of the batter—this is your light cake marbling batter.
- Generously grease your loaf pan using butter or cooking spray. Pour the light and dark cake batters into your loaf pan and marble them. If you don't know how, check out this post with printable instructions: How to Marble a Cake
- Bake the marble cake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely on the rack.This cake will keep at room temperature for 3-4 days; wrap in plastic wrap or foil to seal in the moisture.
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
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I only have half a bag of marbles…is that enough?
great with butter pecan ice cream
This looks really attractive
Send me one!! Please!! 🙂
Yummy yum yum !!!!!!!!
I´ve used Mocha Mix non-dairy creamer in place of milk in a lot of baking recipes to make it pareve. It works really well.
Mmm w a good cup of coffee!
Thank you so much Tori- much appreciated!
Exactly what I was looking for Shabbat , thanks!
Thank Tori, as soon as I get back from my holiday I´m going to try it and ill let you know if it worked!!!
Tori- how can I make this pareve?Love Ilana xxx
Hi Ilana! Sub non-hydrogenated margarine for butter (I like organic Earth Balance buttery sticks). If the margarine is salted, cut salt to 1/4 tsp. For the milk sub, I’d stick to a thicker non-dairy milk like So Delicious coconut milk or a non-dairy creamer (the batter needs to be thick in order to marble; almond milk or soy might be too thin, though I haven’t tried it so I can’t confirm that.) Finally, make sure your instant pudding mix is pareve. Jello sugar based instant vanilla pudding and pie filling is certified pareve: http://www.ok.org/kfgProducts.asp?ir=&C=PIE+FILLINGS Enjoy!
Looks fantastic, Tori.
mmmmmmm love this cake especially during the holidays….
Reminds me of my grandmother! We always had marble cake with her. Sweet memories!
Thanks…a keeper…my mom put black walnuts in hers (southern cook)….
Oooh, black walnuts would be a perfect add-in!
Just looking at the recipe…is there something I could use instead of the vanilla pudding mix?? That is an impossibility here in England!! Would custard powder work? (To me they taste the same) thanks
Hi Lynn, I developed this recipe over three years ago and I´ve always used pudding mix in it, so I´m not sure offhand about a sub. Custard powder is similar to instant pudding powder, from what I read, so it might be worth a try… but I can´t promise since I haven´t tried it myself. If I come across a better sub I will let you know!
I have not tried the cake yet and plan to do so. I would not use custard powder, since it needs to be bolied with milk, unlike instant pudding that does not have to be cooked. I would boil it per the package directions and use it cooked in the recipe, using a similar amount to what the instant pudding would yield.
I searched and found it on Amazon.co.uk,not as convenient as going and getting it from a store but a solution.
Looks fabulous. Think this will have to be my next dessert!
My Gran the BEST
Hi! I love your recipes!!! Can I make this pareve using nondairy creamer and margarine?? Looks yummy!!
Hi Dore! Sub non-hydrogenated margarine for butter (I like organic Earth Balance buttery sticks). If the margarine is salted, cut salt to 1/4 tsp. For the milk sub, I’d stick to a thicker non-dairy milk like So Delicious coconut milk or a non-dairy creamer (the batter needs to be thick in order to marble; almond milk or soy might be too thin, though I haven’t tried it so I can’t confirm that.) Finally, make sure your instant pudding mix is pareve. Jello sugar based instant vanilla pudding and pie filling is certified pareve (look for the hechsher to be sure): http://www.ok.org/kfgProducts.asp?ir=&C=PIE+FILLINGS Enjoy!
my MOM used to make the most fantastic Marble cakes !