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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHAT YOU GET: A perfectly dense, rich marble pound cake recipe featuring beautiful swirls of vanilla and chocolate throughout. As is with most pound cakes, impressive results are easy to achieve for this variation!
Full disclosure: I love pound cake. I love eating it almost as much as I love how easy they are to make. And not only is this Marble Pound Cake super simple to make, but I consider it a never-fail dessert — there’s something for everyone.
Whether your guests are team chocolate or team vanilla, everyone loves tucking into this homemade marble pound cake after a light dinner, as a midday snack, or even for breakfast with a steaming cup of coffee. Glaze this pound cake with homemade chocolate ganache if you want to up the ante.
Truly, this incredibly rich and moist pound cake never disappoints.
Why Add Sour Cream To Pound Cake
While most people use sour cream as a topping for baked potatoes and tacos, it can also be a fantastic ingredient when baking! Sour cream gives your pound cake a slightly tangy flavor, which means every bite is bright and interesting instead of just… heavy and dull. Beyond that, adding sour cream to your pound cake ensures you will have a moist cake every time because you are adding fat, which makes your cake rich, and moisture that isn’t liquid, which would thin your batter. The acid in the sour cream also interacts with the flour of the cake, breaking down the gluten, which gives you a fluffier, more satisfying bite.
How Do I Get A Swirl In My Chocolate And Vanilla Pound Cake
The swirl in this pound cake will impress your guests — and it is the result of a straightforward technique. You do not want to mix your vanilla and chocolate batters. Instead, you will alternate spoonfuls of vanilla or chocolate batter into your loaf pan and run a knife through each spoonful to swirl it in a “U” or “S” shape. Don’t get carried away. A light touch is all you need. You’ll repeat this process until you’re out of batter.
Tools You’ll Need To Make Marble Pound Cake
- Measuring cups and spoons
- 9 x 5- inch (23 x 12½-cm) loaf pan
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Marble Pound Cake
- There is no leavening in this poundcake; all of the lift comes from creaming the butter for a full 5 minutes until it is very fluffy and light. Don’t rush the mixing process.
- Make sure to fully beat in each egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding the next.
- For the best rise, always make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you begin.
- To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of hot (but not boiling) water for 5 minutes.
- If you want to glaze this cake, a simple chocolate ganache is lovely.
Make More Pound Cake!
- Lemon Yogurt Loaf Cake
- Simply Divine Butter Pecan Pound Cake
- Decadent Chocolate Pound Cake
- Perfectly Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
- Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Vanilla Pound Cake with Loads Of Sprinkles
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Try These Recipes!
Simple Marble Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) butter (softened)
- 1½ cups (12 oz/340 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- ¼ cup (2 oz/57 g) sour cream (at room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (7½ oz/213 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (1 oz/28 g) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (sifted)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and butter and line with parchment a 9 x 5- inch (23 x 12½-cm) loaf pan. Butter and flour the parchment paper and set it aside.
- In a medium bowl with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time, and fully mix each before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Whisk the flour, cornstarch, and salt together in a small bowl, then beat this into the butter mixture on low speed until just combined.
- Remove half of the batter to a separate medium bowl and fold in the cocoa powder until combined.
- Drop alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter into the prepared loaf pan, then run a knife through the batter to swirl it.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center, comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting it out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature for 2 hours.
Hi Gemma. Can I reduce the sugar by 50% as I find 1.5 cups is too sweet. Thanks.
Made this yesterday! It was soooo nice. Thank you for another great recipe. I did reduce the sugar to 260 gr.
Hi Gemma!
Tried this recipe for my brother’s birthday. Thanks for the lovely recipe.Have used your chocolate ganache recipe to decorate sharing the pic for you.
Love
Shamima
Can I use monkfruit and lite butter in this recipe?
Can I use plain flour instead of all purpose flour pls?
Hi Gemma. I made this cake and it was delicious. I loved it! Thank you for sharing your experience and recipes.
I MAde the recipe twice but both times at 60-70 minutes the outside was overdone burn even with foil covered and inside was moist not done. AT 90 minutes was done inside. (My English is a bit rusty, sorry) what I am doing wrong? How to fix it? I used silicone Tupperware same cm.
Hi Gemma,
Love your recipes. Can I make cup cakes of this batter?
Thankyou
Hola! I love your recipes, and make many of them! I am not new to baking, but I am wondering how you can make a cake with no baking soda or baking powder?! Gracias!
Hi Gemma,
I made this marble cake and it was soooo delicious ????
Making it again today double batch ☺️