Marble Cake Recipe (Classic German Marmorkuchen)

This marble cake recipe is known as the classic German marmorkuchen–a sweet, dense and rustic cake served during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The cake is also known as the Springerle cake, due to the shape and pins on top of the cake. The cake is prepared with bread dough, which is topped with a ground walnut filling and a cream/egg topping. The cake is then baked in a marble-like surface to create the marble pattern.

The marmorkuchen, or marble cake, is a traditional German cake recipe from the town of Marburg. It’s made with layers of butter cake and marzipan alternating with almond paste,  and covered in a creamy almond-flavored butter creme.

Marmorkuchen is a German tradition, which is a kind of a marble cake crumbly in texture. You can find the recipe in numerous cookbooks, but I will give you a detailed explanation of the recipe in this blog post.

Making A Beautiful Marble Cake Is Actually Quite Simple!

If you want to make a cake that appears sophisticated and elegant but isn’t, try making a marble cake!

This traditional cake recipe uses basic tastes like vanilla and chocolate, which will appeal to both simple and sophisticated palates. The great thing about marble cake is that you can be as creative as you like with the pattern or simply do a simple light swirl of batter – the choice is yours!

Don’t be put off by the fact that our recipe isn’t prepared from a cake mix. Marble cake from home is simple to make and utilizes ingredients that are similar to those found in pre-packaged mixes.

The only difference is that there are a few extra stages to complete – but you can do it… and the payoff is well worth the effort. It’s a wonderful cake to enjoy as a sweet treat at home or to offer to friends and family!

It’s such an excitement to cut into a fresh marble cake!

Here’s an interesting fact: marble cake is really German in origin. The concept of marble cake was introduced to North America by German immigrants in the 19th century.

The cake recipe was a bit different back then, with spices and molasses used to make the “dark” part of the cake, but the idea of two colors swirling together is still relevant today!

Speaking of German marble cake, here is another dish on this site that Lisa loves (along with German potato pancakes). She was raised in Germany and remembers eating marble cake as a child.

Her mother and grandmother used to bake marble cake, but it was typically in the shape of a traditional circular bundt cake. Years later, our loaf pan version tasted just as delicious (we were moving and didn’t want to purchase any more baking equipment).

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all method for creating marbling in a marble cake. The main thing to remember is not to overmix the batter.

The colors are intended to mix yet remain distinct (as shown in the picture below) – thus the unique marbling pattern.

If you overmix the batter, the color will fade to a light brown and the marbling will be reduced. It’ll still taste delicious, but it won’t have the swirls.

Before baking, the marble cake batter looked like this!

Make sure the cake has cooled completely before serving. Otherwise, when you cut the pieces, it may crumble. We experienced this once because we were too eager to eat it – real story.

Marble cake is traditionally served without glaze or frosting, although a dusting of powdered sugar may be added for flavor and appearance.

It’s also an excellent cake to keep in a container for 2 to 3 days. It should maintain its softness while retaining some moisture. We hope you love this German marble cake recipe as much as we did!

Recipes that are similar

A fun German dessert to make is marble cake; here are some more excellent cake recipes:

• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – An simple carrot cake recipe with a delicious cream cheese icing.
• Butter Cake – This Butterkuchen is a traditional yeast dough recipe with almonds.
• Apfelkuchen – a delectable apple cake with a topping of sweet crumbs!
• German Cheesecake – A delicious, uncomplicated Käsekuchen prepared using German quark.

Ingredients

The Dessert (General)

• 3/4 cup room temperature butter
• a third cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon extract de vanille
• 4 eggs (medium size) at room temperature
• 1/2 gallon of milk
• flour (two cups)
• a third of a teaspoon of baking powder
• a generous teaspoon of salt

The Chocolate Cake Mix

• a quarter cup of cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons of milk

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
2. If you don’t have a silicone loaf pan, line it with parchment paper or oil with flour sprinkled on top.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together the room temperature butter, sugar, and vanilla extract using an electric (hand) mixer for about 5 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the batter is smooth.
5. Mix in the milk one more.
6. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate basin. While beating with your hand mixer on the lowest speed, add it to the wet components in a few stages to prevent lumps.
7. Stop mixing after the cake batter has a smooth consistency. Make sure you’re not overmixing!
8. 2/3 of the batter should be poured into the prepared loaf pan.
9. Toss the remaining batter in the bowl with 2 tablespoons of milk and chocolate powder. You may need to add a little more or less milk depending on the consistency of the batter (it should not be runny!).
10. In the loaf pan, pour the chocolate batter on top of the light batter. To make the spiral/marble pattern, run a fork through the batter in a downward spiral motion. After that, run your fork lengthwise into the center of the cake. (For reference, check the picture above)
11. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Because every oven is different, your cake may be done sooner or need a little more time.
12. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 15 minutes after removing it from the oven. Then take it out of the pan and let it aside to cool. Allow enough time for the cake to cool before cutting it; otherwise, it may crack or crumble.
13. After the cake has cooled completely, dust it with powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

• A silicone loaf pan with dimensions of 9.5 4 3 deep inches is available. This pan is really a bit too small for the quantity of batter produced by this recipe. Your pan should, in an ideal world, be somewhat larger. If you have a pan with radically different dimensions, you may need to modify the recipe.
• A silicone pan is useful because it makes removing the cake from the pan after it has been cooked a breeze. If you don’t have a silicone loaf pan, be sure to line it with parchment paper or oil and flour the bottom and sides well.
• This cake also works nicely in a bundt pan instead of a loaf pan. Unfortunately, we didn’t have one on hand when we made this recipe (we’re in the process of relocating), but it’s our normal marble cake pan.
• When making hot chocolate (the drink), be careful to use real cocoa powder rather than pre-made blends.
• Keep a close watch on your dessert. It will begin to dry out if you leave it in the oven for too long.

Information about nutrition:

Serving Size: 14 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size: 1 Serving Size 220 calories 12 g total fat 7g Saturated Fat 0g trans fat 4 g of unsaturated fat 74 milligrams of cholesterol Sodium (mg): 216 25g carbohydrate 1 gram of fiber 10 g sugar 4 g protein

An online nutrition calculator was used to determine this nutritional information. It should only be used as a guideline and not as a substitute for expert dietary guidance. Depending on the particular components used, the exact values may vary.

How did this recipe turn out for you?

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If you’re a fan of German cakes, then you’ll enjoy this recipe for Marble Cake, a German specialty that is similar to the American marble cake. It’s simple to make, and this marble cake recipe is a classic German recipe. The cake is made from just four ingredients: flour, sugar, butter and eggs. It’s a light, moist cake that’s full of vanilla flavor and marbled with a light cream cheese frosting.. Read more about german marble cake mixing method and let us know what you think.