This easy marble loaf cake is moist and flavorful and topped with a thick and luscious layer of chocolate ganache.
This marble loaf is buttery, tender, and moist, and is made with vanilla and chocolate swirled into the most beautiful cake batter.
The cake batter is made with one recipe, which is halved and added cocoa powder. There is no need to make two separate cake batters!
This cake is one of our favorite desserts to make because it's so beautiful and so delicious and we love the chocolate and vanilla combination!
If you like making cakes in loaves, you should try our sour cream chocolate pound cake, lemon pound cake, moist honey cake, double chocolate banana bread, and chocolate chip banana bread.
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Why this recipe works
- Ease- this loaf cake recipe is super easy to make and is made with one cake batter that is divided in half.
- Flavor- can't decide if you want chocolate cake or vanilla cake? make this marble cake instead and get both flavors in one cake!
- Texture- this cake is tender, moist, buttery, and just delicious.
- Chocolate ganache- this cake is topped with a thick layer of chocolate ganache.
- Simple- Made with simple ingredients that you can find in any grocery store.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of this delicious bake.
Eggs- you will need 4 large eggs for this recipe. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe. cake flour will work great as well.
Dutch cocoa powder– we like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for our baked goods because we like the deep and rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work great as well!
Baking powder – baking powder allows the cake to rise. Make sure that your baking powder isn’t expired. Don’t replace the baking powder with baking soda!
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Buttermilk– gives the cake extra moisture. You can make your own buttermilk if you don’t have one on hand. Simply mix a cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Sour cream- use either sour cream or greek yogurt. Both will work great.
Kosher salt- you will need about ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
For the chocolate ganache
Chocolate- use the best quality semisweet or dark chocolate bars for the best flavor. using the best quality dark chocolate is very important in this recipe.
Heavy cream- use full-fat heavy cream for this recipe. the heavy cream makes this french hot chocolate extra creamy and silky.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Into a big measuring cup or a small mixing bowl, add the buttermilk, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and sour cream, and mix with a whisk.
Then into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour and baking powder. Mix with a whisk until combined.
In a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 2 minutes.
Add the room-temperature eggs and mix until well combined.
Then add ½ of the dry mixture and ½ of the wet mixture into the butter mixer and mix it until almost combined.
Add the other half of the dry ingredients and the wet mixture until just combined.
Divide the mixture in half sift the cocoa powder into one-half of the cake mixture and mix until just combined. Don't overmix.
Scoop ¼ cup of the vanilla mixture into the loaf pan, and ¼ cup of the chocolate mixture. Repeat until you run out of cake batter. (as seen in the video)
Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Make the chocolate ganache
Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.
Place the chocolate ganache in the fridge for about 40 minutes or until it hardens and has a frosting-like texture.
Frost the cake with the chocolate ganache and make a wave pattern with a spatula.
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- One of my biggest tips for this cake is to not overmix the swirls to ensure that you'll get a beautiful marble design when you cut into the cake.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making this, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the mixture.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the loaf cool for at least 20 minutes so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up. This loaf cake is extra moist and melts in your mouth deliciously, so it will be worth it to wait these 20 minutes.
Faq's
This cake will last up to 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
We use all-purpose flour for this cake. Self-rising flour and cake flour will work great as well.
We like to use Dutch prosses cocoa powder because it gives the cake a deeper rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work! It’s just a personal preference.
I used my 12 inch loaf pan for this recipe but you can use a standard 9 inch loaf pan (that is wider) as well.
Storing
It’s okay to store this cake at room temperature. Make sure that you store the loaf in an airtight container so it won’t dry out.
Freezing
This cake is very easy to freeze. After baking, let the cake cool to room temperature, transfer it into a freezer-friendly Ziploc bag, or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw: place the cake in the refrigerator overnight or place it a room temperature for a few hours.
Substitutions
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Dairy-free- you can make this cake dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter or using your favorite dairy-free chocolate ganache.
Variations
Chocolate chips- add chocolate chips to the cake batter for an extra chocolate flavor!
Frosting- Use your favorite chocolate frosting instead of chocolate ganache like dark chocolate frosting, stabilized chocolate whipped cream frosting, chocolate cream cheese frosting, etc.
Tools
- Mixing bowls- best glass mixing bowls.
- Whisk set- our favorite copper whisk set.
More loaf cakes
Carrot loaf cake- This carrot cake loaf is made with an easy carrot cake batter, topped with an incredibly creamy and delicious cream cheese frosting, and topped with chopped pecans.
Orange pound cake with orange glaze- This orange pound cake is loaded with orange flavor and is moist, buttery, dense, and topped with a delicious orange glaze.
Chocolate sour cream pound cake- This chocolate sour cream pound cake is moist, chocolaty, and easy to make. It's topped with a silky smooth chocolate ganache that makes this cake irresistible.
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📖 Recipe
Marble Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cups Buttermilk
- ½ cups Sour cream or yogurt
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ cups Vegetable oil
- 4 Eggs
- 115 g Butter soft
- 1 â…“ cups Granulated sugar
- 2 ½ cups Flour
- 2 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cups Cocoa powder
Chocolate ganache:
- 150 g Dark chocolate
- 150 g Heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Into a big measuring cup or a small mixing bowl, add the buttermilk, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, sour cream, and mix with a whisk.
- Then into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour and baking powder. Mix with a whisk until combined.
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 2 minutes.
- Add the room temperature eggs and mix until well combined.
- Then add ½ of the dry mixture and ½ of the wet mixture into the butter mixer and mix it until almost combined.
- Add the other half of the dry ingredients and the wet mixture until just combined.
- Divide the mixture in half sift the cocoa powder into one half of the cake mixture and mix until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Scoop ¼ cup of the vanilla mixture into the loaf pan, and ¼ cup of the chocolate mixture. Repeat until you run out of cake batter. (as seen in the video)
- Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Make the chocolate ganache:
- Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
- Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.
- Place the chocolate ganache in the fridge for about 40 minutes or until it hardens and has a frosting-like texture.
- Frost the cake with the chocolate ganache and make a wave pattern with a spatula.
Maria N.
Very moist, fluffy, and tender. Just delicious.
Easy steps to comprehend (FYI: When do we add the salt? This step is not included in the instructions. Thanks 🙂 )
I used plain pure greek yogurt instead of sour cream; it worked out great.
I'm looking forward to more recipes.
I finally found a marble loaf recipe that hubby likes. Yay!
Thank you for this great recipe.
Crystal
Excellent recipes .. love all your recipes ..
RichandDelish
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked them!
Sarah
Delicious and beautiful marble loaf cake. The chocolate ganache on top is a must!
Lily
I’m sorry I must be blind but I don’t see the ingredients for the chocolate ganache. Also, what size loaf pan did you use?
RichandDelish
Hi! sorry, I fixed it. We used a 12x4x3 inch loaf pan.
Angeline
Hi,thanks for all of your amazing recipes. For this recipe, I don't have a 12x4x3 inch loaf pan. Any other substitute baking pans that I can use, besides this loaf pan.
Thank you.
RichandDelish
Hi! a standard loaf pan will work for this like a 9x5 inch pan.