Easy To Follow, Delicious Chocolate and Orange Marble Cake or Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake Recipe
What is a Marble cake?
A marble cake is a cake with a streaky or mottled appearance like marble. This is achieved by
very lightly blending light and dark batter.
This cake is delicious to eat as it is without frosting and decoration. Some bakers like to
bake the batter in a loaf tin and others use a standard 8-inch round tin.
HOW HARD IS IT TO MAKE A MARBLE SPONGE CAKE?
A beginner can make a marble sponge cake!
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EQUIPMENT NEEDED
- 8-inch (20 cm) round Cake Pan/Tin
- Grease proof lining
- Medium size bowl
- Electric hand whisk or Stand mixer
- Spatula
- Teaspoon
- Tablespoon
- Long bread knife or cake saw
- Newspaper & String or a cake belt
Tip
I always use 4-inch-deep cake pan/tins when baking celebration cakes rather than the
3-inch-deep pan/tins.
Why? Well, the result will be that your sponge will taller and it will look more impressive than if you were to use the 3-inch-deep pan/tin.
Tip
If you have decided to use a 4-inch-deep cake pan then please follow the correct
recipe.
Why? Because the weights of the ingredients are less. Please don’t wing it by halving your recipes or doubling up etc as this is a sure way for things to go wrong.
Baking is a science thing!
INGREDIENTS FOR 8” ROUND x 3” DEEP PAN/TIN
- 275g / oz Caster Sugar
- 275g ‘unsalted baking spread (i.e. Lurpack, Clover, utterly butterly)
- 320g Plain (all-purpose flour) sieve the flour before adding into bowl
- 30g tablespoons good cocoa powder with 100% cocoa
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1.5 teaspoons Baking Powder (sieve baking powder before adding to bowl)
- 1 orange, zest and juice (for orange flavoured cake) - or - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 Free Range Eggs – size 3 or large (room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- Approx. 25g butter spread or baking spray (this is to grease your tin)
INGREDIENTS FOR 8” ROUND x 4” DEEP PAN/TIN
- 400g / 14 oz Caster Sugar (fine or superfine grade)
- 400g / 14 oz unsalted baking spread i.e. Lurpack, Clover, Utterly Butterly
- 400g Plain (all-purpose flour) sieve the flour before adding into bowl
- 50g tablespoons good cocoa powder with 100% cocoa
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder (sieve baking powder before adding to bowl)
- 1 orange, zest and juice (for orange flavoured cake) - or - 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 7 Free Range Eggs – size 3 or large (room temperature)
- 3 tablespoons of milk
- Approx. 25g butter spread or baking spray (this is to grease your tin)
Tip Cocoa - Please do not use drinking chocolate powder as this powder contains loads of
sugar and has very little cocoa – probably only about 25% of cocoa. This will upset the
balance of the cake mixture and flavour.
Tip Spread - If you can try to use baking spread or spreadable butter rather than margarine.
Baking spread or spreadable butter gives a much better flavour and texture to the cake.
Tip Eggs - It’s important to use room temperature eggs (not straight out from the fridge)
when baking. Room temperature eggs disperse more easily and evenly in the batter. Since
eggs place an important part in the structure, even distribution is important for texture.
Room temperature eggs bind more easily to other ingredients.
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1 - Get Your Oven Ready
- Ensure your oven rack is moved to the 2 nd lowest position from the bottom
- Place your oven thermometer in the oven if you have one
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/Fan 140°C/gas 3.
An oven thermometer is a really inexpensive piece of equipment, but worth its weight in gold.
All ovens cook at different temperatures and if you want great cakes, you need to know you’re baking at the right temperature.
Step 1 - put the shelf 2nd from the bottom and add your oven thermometer
Step 2 - Prepare Your Tin
- Lightly grease your pan/tin
- Line your pan/tin with greaseproof paper – bottom and sides of tin
- Wrap your pan/tin with a cake belt
Step 3 - The All-in-One Method
- Measure the spread, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and vanilla extract / orange into a large
bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer or stand mixer for about 2 minutes, until well
blended - Spoon half the mixture into another bowl and set aside.
Step 4 – Prepare Cocoa and Orange Mixture
- In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and hot water, orange zest and juice together until smooth.
- Allow to cool slightly, then add to one of the bowls of cake mixture, mixing well until evenly blended.
Step 5 – Adding the Batter to Your Tin
- Spoon the vanilla and chocolate cake mixtures randomly into the prepared tin until all of the mixture is used up
- Then carefully level the surface.
Step 6 - Bake
Bake for 1 to 1.5 hours. Or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and beginning to
shrink away from the sides of the tin.
Step 7 - Cool
Allow your cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, peel off
the lining paper and leave to cool completely.
Enjoy!
This cake is delicious to eat as it is. However, if you wish to frost and decorate, please see
our links to:
