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Home » Recipes » Bundt Cake Recipes

Old Fashioned Marble Pound Cake Recipe

Published: Mar 10, 2020 Last Updated: Mar 3, 2021 by Marye 1020 words. | About 6 minutes to read this article.

Moist and not too sweet, this old fashioned marble pound cake recipe is just as good as you remember it. Vanilla cake is brightened with orange while the chocolate swirls are deepend with bourbon -- just a touch. Easy recipe - some baking experience.
Total time 1 hour 10 minutes
Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe
Slice of orange and bourbon marble pound cake o a plate.

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.

A slice of marble cake on a plate showing the chocolate and vanilla swirls.
Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • Tips
  • FAQs
  • Related recipes
  • Kaffeeklatsch
  • Old Fashioned Marble Pound Cake Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

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.
old fashioned marble pound cake recipe is so good and so pretty! restlesschipotle.com

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.

Uncut marble cake dusted with powdered sugar, showing the design.

Related recipes

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.
  • White Chocolate & Key Lime Bundt Cake 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.

A closeup of a slice of marble pound cake.
4.47 from 13 votes

Old Fashioned Marble Pound Cake Recipe

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Moist and not too sweet, this old fashioned marble pound cake recipe is just as good as you remember it. Vanilla cake is brightened with orange while the chocolate swirls are deepend with bourbon -- just a touch. Easy recipe - some baking experience.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Amercian Heritage
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings:12
Calories:337
Author:Marye Audet-White
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

  • Stand mixer
  • rubber spatula

Ingredients

  • Nonstick baking spray
  • ½ cup Graham cracker crumbs
  • 2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 11/2 teaspoons Baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon Baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • ½ cup Butter, room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cups Sugar
  • 4 Eggs, room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Orange zest
  • ¾ cup Sour cream
  • 4 ounces Melted bittersweet chocolate
  • 1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder, I used extra dark
  • 2 tablespoons Bourbon

I earn a commission from Instacart from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325F.
  • Grease the pan and dust with graham cracker crumbs, shaking out the excess.
  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt -- set aside.
  • Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed about 5 minutes, until very light and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition.
  • Stir in the vanilla and sour cream.
  • Fold in the flour mixture.
  • Remove 1 ½ cups of the batter to a smaller bowl.
  • Mix in the melted chocolate, cocoa, and bourbon until the color is consistent with no light streaks.
  • Add the orange zest to the remaining vanilla batter, mixing in well.
  • Spoon the batter in the pan, alternating chocolate and vanilla.
  • Swirl a knife through the batter.
  • Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Let cool in the pan for 20s minute.
  • Loosen the cake from the pan and turn out to finish cooling.

Notes

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.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 337kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 265mg | Potassium: 310mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 331IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 109mg | Iron: 2mg

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

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    About Marye

    With a 40 year focus on the importance of family and a passion for southern comfort food, Marye Audet-White is an expert in melding the two together effortlessly. Marye's a NY Times Bestselling author with 10 cookbooks under her belt and her recipes have been featured in Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Today, House Beautiful, Texas Living, Food & Wine, and many more.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Keri

      April 05, 2020 at 12:32 pm

      4 stars
      Made this today with the following changes, skipped the graham cracker crumbs, skipped the orange zest and bourbon. Used vanilla, replaced the melted bittersweet chocolate with 12 tablespoons of cocoa powder mixed with about 1/4 cup cold coffee. The cake was moist and delicious. My hubby ate two pieces before it was completely cooled and would have ate a third if I would have let him?Thanks for the recipe, I will definitely make this again.

      Reply
      • Marye

        April 05, 2020 at 1:34 pm

        That's great! I like using coffee with chocolate as well.

    2. Laila

      March 12, 2020 at 8:46 pm

      Love tbis, will make this weekend. Thank you

      Reply
      • Marye

        March 15, 2020 at 11:09 am

        Let me know what you think! It's one of our favorites.

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