There’s something so sensational about swirled desserts! I’m no stranger to marbled cakes and my favorites are this wild zebra cake (I used it as the base of my daughter’s “safari” birthday party cake!) and this giant chocolate marble banana Bundt cake. Have you tried either? Today we’re relying on our 9×5-inch loaf pan, the magical vehicle that supplies us with banana bread, loaf pan cheesecake, and lemon pound cake.
Here’s Why You Will Love This Cake:
Tastes rich and moist with prominent vanilla & chocolate flavors. It’s just as buttery as pound cake, but with a lighter crumb. The 2 cake flavors come from 1 basic batter. Assembly is as easy as spooning batter into the pan and swirling with a knife. Fuss-free decorating because all of the beauty is on the inside!
If you love homemade cake, but don’t need a towering giant with gobs of sweet frosting, this easy yet impressive dessert is for you. 🙂
Key Ingredients You Need for Marble Loaf Cake:
Adapted from reader-loved chocolate chip loaf cake, this marble loaf cake comes together with basic baking ingredients. You need all of the above plus flour, baking powder, and salt. Let me explain some of the most important:
Success Tip: Use Room Temperature Ingredients
Use Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the cake batter mixes together easily and evenly. Simply put, cold ingredients won’t properly combine to produce a smooth cake crumb. The batter will have lumps, as pictured below, but if you use cold ingredients, expect a lot of lumps that won’t bake properly. After you prepare the vanilla batter, transfer some to another bowl and mix in your cocoa powder, more milk, and the espresso powder:
Here’s Exactly How to Swirl The Batters Together
2 Ingredient Chocolate Ganache Topping
To top the cake, let’s turn to the wonderful dessert concoction known as ganache. Chocolate ganache is typically made with 1:1 semi-sweet chocolate and heavy cream or heavy whipping cream, but for this cake I wanted a thicker-style ganache so I reduced the amount of cream. Since there’s less liquid, it’s best to melt these two ingredients together rather than pour warm cream over the chocolate. I used milk chocolate in the pictured cake and if you’re using that as well, please see my recipe note because you need even less heavy cream. Let the ganache thicken for 20-30 minutes and then drape it over your cake. It’s glorious! Marble loaf cake is built-in beauty with basically zero decoration. We can all appreciate that!
More Baking Success Tips
10 Cake Baking Tips for Perfect Cakes My Recommendations for the Best Baking Pans Homemade Vanilla Extract How to Properly Measure Baking Ingredients Learn: Baking Powder Vs Baking Soda
