Some of us just can’t decide which to pick – Chocolate Cake or Vanilla Cake! Well, here is a simple and a very attractive solution, combine the two favorites and make a Marble Cake. Marble Cake is not just a “WOW” presentation but also has that “WOW” flavor effect, the subtle hints of vanilla give a flavor break from the decadent chocolate. Sink your teeth into a soft, spongy eggless cake and take a bite of heaven!
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Cool Time: 30 min
Makes: 8-10 slices
Ingredients:
For the Vanilla Batter:
All-Purpose Flour – 1.75 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Hot Water – 1 cup
Vinegar – 1 tbsp
Vanilla Extract – 1/2 tbsp
Oil – 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Click here for Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F/ 176 degree C.
2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients – Flour, Sugar, Salt and Baking Soda.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients – Water, Vinegar, Vanilla Extract and Oil and whisk.
4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine. Incorporate together well.
5. Grease 2, 9″ round baking pans or 1, 9″X13″ baking pan.
6. Pour half the batter into each of the pans. Divide the Chocolate batter as well.
7. Swirl the batter with a butter knife to get marble-effect.
8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes.
9. Do the toothpick test and take out once done.
10. Allow the cake to rest in the pan for 15 minutes, loosen the edges with a butter knife.
11. Invert the cake onto a cooling rake and allow it to cool completely to the touch.
12. Cover with icing or frosting and serve.
For the Chocolate Batter:
All-Purpose Flour – 1.5 cups
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 1/4 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Hot Water – 1 cup
Vinegar – 1 tbsp
Vanilla Extract – 1/2 tbsp
Oil – 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Coffee Granules – 1/2 tbsp
Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F/ 176 degree C.
2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients – Flour, Sugar, Salt, Unsweetened Cocoa Powder and Baking Soda.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients – Water, Vinegar, Vanilla Extract, Coffee and Oil and whisk. Melt the Coffee.
4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine. Incorporate together well.
5. Grease 2, 9″ round baking pans or 1, 9″X13″ baking pan.
6. Pour half the batter into each of the pans.
7. Swirl the batter with a butter knife to get marble-effect.
8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes.
9. Do the toothpick test and take out once done.
10. Allow the cake to rest in the pan for 15 minutes, loosen the edges with a butter knife.
11. Invert the cake onto a cooling rake and allow it to cool completely to the touch.
12. Cover with icing or frosting and serve.
Hi H & A,
I tried making the Vanilla cake, simply followed the recipe for the vanilla cake. The cake also turned out good, but it has a weird baking soda smell. It is good taste-wise, but the smell of baking soda was kind of joy-kill.
Did the same thing happen in your case, i.e. does your cake smell of baking soda too or did I go wrong somewhere? Would appreciate your response.
hi….i have one query…i do not have vanilla extract so can i use vanilla bean scrapped instead of vanilla extract….
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
Looks yummm! I’m planning to make this cake for my child’s birthday party so thought of leaving out the coffee granules from both, the cake as well as the frosting. Will that change anything other than the taste?
Hello ladies,
I tried out this recipe but the outcome was not same as yours. The vanilla part went out well, but the chocolate one..it was very liquidy. Whe I mixed the batters the chocolate just dived into the vanilla and the result was a double colored cake light brown at the bottom and dark brown at the top. There was no chance for me to create the marble effect. Could you please tell me why this happened?
I used a deep round 9″ pan.
The cake tased awesome, it was spongy and perfectly baked.
Regards,
Gauri
Hi Gauri,
hmmm…I can’t think of a reason why one batter would be more runny than the other. The ingredients are almost identical (especially the water content). The only big difference is that 1/4 cup of the flour is being replaced with 1/4 cup of cocoa powder. Could you have made a mistake in measuring the water? or Oil?
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
I made this yesterday. I made it in a 9×13 pan and mixed around for a marbled effect. Baked it for 35 mins and cake came out very good. Couple of things I noticed and this by way diminishes the taste the outer edges are very crusty maybe due to moisture loss. When I was mixing my batter it was much thicker than what you showed in the video. re we supposed to use warm water or hot water? Thanks a lot for a wonderful recipe. I will definitely make this again.
I meant it does not diminish the taste. Sorry for the typo
Hey, My husband’s birthday coming so If i want to make half of this cake(we are only 2 to eat)..i have 6″ 3 pan..can u tell me oven time??is anything i need to change??
hi…i havent tried this particular recipe yet(it looks yum btw) but i have seen your whipped cream recipe for cake ince on youtube.i tried making it.i have used nondairy whipped cream.1st tym i whipped the cream,ádded sugar,vanilla extract nd for extra stiffness 1tsp gelatine(heated,diluted,then brought back to room temperature) but it didnt’t evn form medium stiff peak.even aftr beating for 30mins it barely formed soft peaks.thoguh after freezing allnight it was of spreadable consistency nd my purpose was served(i made a three tiered chocolate,whipped cream covered cake for a frnd’s bday..yeeeppp..:-) ..) but cldnt do any piping with the soft cream..i searched many a sites but couldnt get where i went wrong.i am a novice nd really in love wid baking can u plz help?
Hi Lina,
To whip cream at home, you must use dairy heavy cream. You cannot use the non-dairy creamer for this. If you use dairy heavy cream, you will not need to use gelatin for the firmness.
thanks a lot hetal for telling me the solution..next time i will surely find dairy whipping cream..:-)
I tried this and it was a big hit. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
hello….
Can we use lemon juice in place of vinegar………?
thanks,
Nimisha
Hi Nimisha,
The vinegar acts as the acid to make the baking soda react. Lemon juice will work, but it may make the cake lemony or a bit sour.
This recipe rocks! While I was making the batter, my mom constantly kept on saying, “What’s a cake without butter, eggs and milk? I bet this will be a disaster!” But now she keeps irritating me saying, “Bake that cake once again.” This is the third time I am baking marble cake this week. It was a hit with our neighbors. Thanks a lot!
Hi Diya,
Thanks so much for the feedback! Sometimes, daughters can one-up moms ;). Glad you all liked it!
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
In cake(sweet) you put salt also, is that make any difference if we don’t put salt?
Hi Aditi,
Just a tiny bit of salt brings out the sweetness in desserts.
Hi ,
Why do we use hot water. Can we replace with cold water or do we need to use hot water for baking..
Hi Haritha,
The hot water helps the sugar to dissolve quickly.
Thanks Hetal for your Response.
I did the vanilla part it came out so nicely.
I like your receipes so much.they are so easy and it comes out really good.
Thanks for the feedback Haritha!
Thanks so much !!! made cake for the first time ever on 14th feb to surprise my husband and daughter and turned out too good 🙂 did some mistakes at my end while baking am sure next time it will come out the best .
thank u
hello
looks like an awesome cake… I am really keen on baking this one.. could you please help me with a query… here in London it’s very hard to find distilled pure white vinegar..all are distilled malt white vinegar… could we substitute vinegar for an equal quantity of lemon juice?
thanks
planning to make a marble cake , i have almost everything in m y kitchen except coffee granules for chocolate batter !!
can u suggest me the substitute or should i just add 1/2 tbsp nescafe
Hi Rozy,
We did use Nescafe Instant coffee.
planning to make a marble cake , i have almost everything in my kitchen except coffee granules for chocolate batter !!
can u suggest me the substitute or should i just add 1/2 tbsp nescafe
Love the recipe and want to give it a try real soon, but the problem is i don’t want to make two batches can i half the measurements for both vanilla and chocolate cake and make one batch of marble cake……
Thank you,
Hi Neha,
Yes, you can half the ingredients and make one batch.
Hai ,,
Wanted to prepare this but I don’t have instant coffee can we use filter coffee? And can we use malt vinegar ?
Hi Swathi,
If you have filter coffee, you would have to make a strong cup of black coffee and use it in place of the hot water. Malt vinegar has a different flavor than white vinegar so it may not work well in this recipe.
hi, I wanted to ask is can i add walnuts or any kind of nuts to this recipe?
Iwanted to bake this one for my friend’s b’day but mine is a small oven ….just wanted to ask what should be the measurement for one 9″ cake.Btw it looks just too yummy.
Thanks.
Hi Shona,
You can half all of the ingredients.
Excellent recipe…I did it today exactly as you said.it came out as regular soft cake in the centre,but crusty like biscuits all over the edges.
I did checked the oven and took it out after 25 min.
So do I need to take it out much earlier,next time whn I do it.
The taste was superb…..yummy….!
Hi Madhukala,
As all ovens heat differently, check around 20 mins by inserting a toothpick into the center…if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Hi,
I tried the choclate only reciepe without vinegar.the outcome is crunchy on outside and soft inside..and the cake is not moist as well..can i substitue 1 egg next time in place of vinegar.what is vinegar used for ?is it because of vinegar or should i hv baked little more time..i hv left the cake in switched off oven for 10 mins after 40 mins of baking..
Hi Dee,
Once a cake is done, it must be removed immediately from the oven to cool. The oven remain hot even after turning it off so your cake dehydrated. This is an eggless cake so if you add an egg, all other proportions will have to change as well. The vinegar is used to activate the soda.
Hi Anuja and Hetal thanks for your beautiful recipes,
inbetween I have a doubt can I bake this cake using pressure cooker or in oven using sand(Indias Oven) because i dont have electric oven here in India.Please do response thanks n advance..
Hi Rohini,
We have never done it ourselves but many people do use a pressure cooker with sand…we are not sure of exactly how to do it. Sorry.
hey wat if i just wana make it in 1 9inch pan? what will be the measurements?
Hey what a co incidence jus today I was thinking of baking a cake and doing a frosting for it yeah and u guys have shown me the way thanks a load….
I made this for my mom’s birthday. It turned out awesome! Thank you girls. I always look forward to your recipes.
Hi, the cakes look sinfully yummy!
If I want to make the same cake with egg, what changes can i make? is the vinegar a substitute for eggs, i’ve never added it while making cakes normally…
Hi Parul,
The vinegar activates the soda in eggless cakes. We have not tried to add an egg to this recipe…usually in baking, all other ingredients must be adjusted such as reducing the amount of soda and other moisture in the recipe.
Please can you send me the link to the choclate frosting.
Thanks
Hi anuja & hetal
Firstly,Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.I made this cake yesterday in microwave convection mode.i baked it for 50 min (doing toothpick test in every 5 min after 35 min)but it still
tasted uncooked from inside.what could have gone wrong?
Hi Ankita,
Unfortunately, neither of us has a convection microwave and are not sure how different they are from regular ovens. Maybe some of our other viewers who have baked cakes in convection type microwaves can help.
Thanks Hetal and Anuja for this delicious recipe. It came out perfect, just had big piece of cake. 🙂
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
The cake looks great and taught of trying one this weekend. Can I use melted butter instead of oil.
Hi Manees,
You should be able to but we have not tried it that way. Sometimes in baking, even a little variation in the recipe can change the outcome. In this case, butter has a little bit of moisture in it that is not there in oil.
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
This looks “WOW”! As usual one of the great recipe. I am definitely going to try this. I have few clarifications:
1. You mentioned that 2 table sppon of oil is need separately; is it for greasing the pan? I couldn’t understand that part fully.
2. Can we use regular vegetable or Canola oil?
3. How how thw water should be? Like; boiling, lukewarm. Will that effect cake in any way.
It’s my husband’s b’day tomorrow and I am going to surprize hi with this.
Thank you so much for all your efforts.
Hi Sam,
1. The amount of oil that is needed is 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. It is used all at once.
2. We used canola oil, but you can use vegetable oil as well.
3. The water should be hot to the touch…not necessarily boiling but not just luke warm.
Good luck with the cake and a very happy birthday to your husband!
Nice recipe. Thought that frosting recipe would come in the same video 🙁
Hi Vid,
Sorry…the video would have been too long. The frosting is coming up really soon!
Could you please give some gluten free recipes.
Thanks
Hi Nirmala,
Here is our list of Gluten free recipe videos: https://34.233.61.50/category/allergy_free
I have a convection oven which has max temp of 250 deg. Is that ok? And also, can I add a bit of milkmaid into the vanilla batter?
Hi Priyanka,
Is the 250 degrees in Celsius or Fahrenheit? Our temp is in F. In baking, you have to follow the recipe exactly or the outcome will be quite different. We have not tried using milkmaid in this recipe so do not know how it will turn out.
I have a convection oven which has max temp of 250 deg. Is that ok?
can we use butter instead of oil?also you have not used condensed milk which is generally used for eggless cake.
Hi Alka,
We have not tried butter in this recipe, so don’t know exactly what the outcome will be… but it should work. Butter has a bit more moisture than oil so the texture may be a little different.
hello…
can we adjust the sugar level according to our taste buds…like for 1.75 cup of flour can we add abt 1 and 1/4 of sugar?
thanks
Hi Nimisha,
Though you can adjust the sugar level to your taste, you have to remember that sugar in a recipe provides the liquid (as sugar melts into liquid). The consistency of the batter may be different with less sugar.
Looks good ladies. Just a quick q though, doesn’t the flavour of the vanilla extract get lost in the chocolate cake?
Hi Milady,
The vanilla flavor is not pronounced, but a little bit of vanilla just rounds out the overall flavor of the cake.
What particular brand of coffee granules did you use?
We used Nescafe instant coffee.
Hi Anuja & Hetal,
Thanks for the post. This is one of my all time favourite cakes and the best part is its eggless.
I was thinking of using a 9×13 inch pan. Will there be difference in the baking time ?
Thanks again..
Hi Stephanie,
No, since the thickness of the cake remains the same if you use one pan or two, the baking time should remain the same. To be on the safe side (as all ovens are different), please keep a close eye on it the last 5 or so minutes of baking.
Thanks Hetal,
I baked the cake for exactly the same time and it was perfect.
You ladies made my day 🙂
The vinegar u used, is it distilled white vinegar? if not which one did u use?
Hi PK,
Yes, it is distilled white vinegar.
Can I make this cake in a convection microwave oven? Will the temperature etc. remain the same?
Hi Hetal,
what kind of oil are yu using?
Hi Sreeja,
We used canola oil.
you both are so cute in this video
I saw the video and it looks very easy to make. Could I take the entire batch of vanilla and chocolate cake and use it in only one pan or will that over flow? Also, can you show us how you make your frosting if you did?
Great presentation of the cake. I like how you used a spoon to make that design on the cake.
Hi Pinal,
You can use a 9″ by 13″ rectangle pan and it will fit the entire batch. If you use the 9″ round pan, you will need 2. The frosting video is coming up next.
Hi Pinal,
If you want to use one pan, it has to be a 9×13 rectangle pan to be able to fit all of the batter. The frosting is coming up.
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
That looks absolutely sinful! Just need to know where can I find your recipe for the chocolate frosting? I found one in the eggless chocolate “crazy” cake recipe which doesn’t have a video. Have you’ll used the same recipe here as well?
Hi Devika,
The chocolate frosting video is coming up next…stay tuned! 🙂
Hi,
I am eagerly waiting for your chocolate frosting video. Meanwhile I am going to make this cake & frost it with Nutella !
good idea!
So totally making this soooon! 🙂
Thank you.
Bad girls!! I thought I am going to be strict on my diet but I decided to give up! Now I shall blame my weight gain on SMTC 😉