Even though Trevor and I don’t love super chocolatey desserts, our kids definitely do. Making a marble cake is a good compromise for us as a family, since the vanilla part mellows out the richness of a chocolate cake for us, and the chocolate part satisfies our kids’ chocolate cravings.
Marbled cakes may seem hard to make since it seems like the work would be doubled. However, the key to making an easy marbled cake is actually just making one vanilla batter and frosting that can easily be divided, then adding chocolate to half of the batter and frosting. If you want a deeper chocolate flavor, you can also substitute dark chocolate in both the cake batter and frosting.
Milk Chocolate & Vanilla Marble Cake
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 9 slices
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ⅔ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips
- For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1¾ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Pinch kosher salt
- ⅓ cup milk chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 8x8 inch baking pan with with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl bowl, beat butter until lightened in color and creamed. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- To the creamed mixture, alternately add ⅓ of the reserved flour mixture, then ½ of the buttermilk, then ⅓ of the reserved flour mixture, then final ½ of the buttermilk, then final ⅓ of flour mixture, mixing between each addition until just barely combined. Divide batter in half, removing half to a separate bowl.
- Gently melt the ½ cup chocolate chips in microwave gradually, cooking for about 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted. Let cool slightly until no longer hot to the touch, then stir into half the batter.
- Spoon about 4-5 large separate spoonfuls of chocolate batter into your prepared pan, leaving room in between the spoonfuls. In between the gaps, spoon 4-5 spoonfuls of vanilla batter. Spoon more chocolate batter on top of the vanilla spoonfuls in the pan, then spoon vanilla batter onto the chocolate spoonfuls. Repeat until batter is all in the pan. Take a knife and gently swirl through the batter to create a marbled look.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until cake is set and toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely.
- While cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, beat butter until lightened in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add cream, vanilla and salt. Beat until frosting is light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Divide frosting in half, placing half in a separate bowl. Gently melt the ⅓ cup chocolate chips in microwave gradually, cooking for about 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted. Let cool, then beat into half the frosting along with the cocoa powder until fully combined.
- Frost the cake by spooning small spoonfuls of chocolate and then vanilla frosting alternatively on the top of the cake. Using a spoon or offset spatula, gently swirl for a marbled effect.
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