Old Fashioned Marble Pound Cake Recipe (2024)

This old fashioned marble pound cake recipe is rich and moist without being too sweet. The light batter is flavored with a hint of citrus while the dark chocolate swirl has a whisper of bourbon. It's one of those desserts that is purely homemade comfort. You might also like this buttermilk pound cake.

Ingredients

• Baking release spray
• Graham cracker crumbs
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Kosher salt
• Butter
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Orange
• Sour cream
• Cocoa
• Bittersweet chocolate
• Bourbon

Instructions

The hardest part about making this cake is the marbling, when you mix the light and dark batters. Honestly that isn't difficult at all - and I'll show you how!

1. Spray the pan with nonstick spray, or grease with butter. Dust with the graham cracker crumbs.
2. Add the batter, alternating dark and light spoonfuls.
3. Keep going until you've used all the batter.
4. Run a knife in a swirling motions but be careful not to overdo it. You want to swirl it - not mix it.

Tips

Add the batter in dollops to the pan, alternating the batters until it's all used up then swirl a knife through carefully. If you get too crazy with the knife you won't have pretty swirls it will all just be muddy looking. But if you are careful you'll get beautiful, sharp swirls of chocolate and vanilla cake when you cut into it. That's what makes marble pound cake so amazing. 🙂

• I like to make about half my batter chocolate. You can use more or less chocolate if you like.
• Be sure to allow it to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before turning out to cool all the way.
• You can leave the orange out if you want to.
• I like just a dusting on powdered (confectioner's ) sugar because it downs off the cake design but if you want to add a glaze you can.

FAQs

It's called a marble cake because of the way the two colors of batter are swirled (marbled) together. The cool thing is that you don't have to make two batters - you make just one then add chocolate to half of it.

Brilliant!

Storage

You can wrap this marble pound cake tightly and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. As a matter of fact it will be better on day 2!

Or, wrap it and freeze it for up to 3 months.

Can you make it in a loaf?

You can! This is easily made in a loaf pan - and if you leave the orange out it's a lot like Starbucks marble pound cake. You'll bake it about 45 minutes to an hour - and you'll have enough batter for 2 loaf pans.

Who doesn't love pound cake? Here are more of my favorites from here on Restless Chipotle.

• Dr Pepper Bundt Cake has the flavor of cherry Dr Pepper. I love this one!
• Apple Whiskey Cake is moist and flavorful. I love it on chilly fall days with a cup of tea.
• is sweet and tangy. This is so good in the summertime!

Kaffeeklatsch

Believe it or not, marble cake is one of the first cakes I ever made -- maybe the very first.
I made it across the street at my best friend's house with his and his mom's help. It was my mom's birthday and I was just old enough to notice that she never got cakes. We rectified that on that very day.

He is now a rather famous artist and probably does not make cakes anymore. I still hear from him once in a blue moon but that's a memory I'll treasure forever.

📖 Recipe

First published January 30, 2015. Last updated March 10, 2020 for better images, step by step, and video.

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