Happy Monday to my favorite band of butter and sugar pushers! Is your week off to a joyful start? Has January been treating you well?
Here in Alabama, we are experiencing one of the coldest winters of all time. (I’m talking icicles-hanging-off-your-car cold. Frozen-boogers-crusted-on-your-kid’s-face cold. Wearing-two-bras-to-hide-your-nipples cold.) We’ve been trapped inside for a few weeks now, and if the icy weather doesn’t get to you, being stuck inside with stir-crazy children probably does.
The past few days have been spent building fires, watching reruns of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” and carb-loading from our positions on the couch. Of course my kids have loved these new winter privileges, but to be honest, being stuck inside with two tiny humans that are cracked out on cartoons and Teddy Grahams is pretty close to mental purgatory. The combination of boredom and pent-up energy is constantly at risk of combusting into a tornado of toys in the living room, food fights, or temper tantrums. Winter-pocolypse indeed.
Marble Loaf Pound Cake
To stay busy, I’ve been baking up a storm. Save for a few cookies that burned while I was scraping peanut butter toast off the couch, these snow days have proved to be perfect baking weather, and I (with the exception of my waistline) am relishing it. Case and point: this marble loaf pound cake.
I’ve long been a fan of the marble loaf pound cake at Starbucks. For years, it was the only treat from their glass case of microwavable calories that I was willing to spend dollars on. Despite numerous attempts to recreate it at home, I was never able to achieve that sweet and tender crumb of vanilla and chocolate that I longed for. Luckily, the forced hours indoors this past week have provided me ample time of test batches of marble loaf pound cake, and I could not be more pleased with the results. This recipe for marble loaf pound cake makes an indulgent treat, sweet enough for dessert and dainty enough for breakfast, and yields one huge loaf that is plenty for you and your family to snack on all winter long.
Making the Pound Cake
To make it, we prepare two batters: one for the chocolate swirl and one for the vanilla. Both batters begin by creaming butter and sugar. Eggs and vanilla are added next, followed by the dry ingredients. To prepare the chocolate batter, we add just a touch of dark cocoa powder. Once completed, both batters are added to the pan in large scoops, and the loaf is marbled with the swirl of a knife. The whole thing bakes up into one giant, rich marble loaf pound cake.
The Ganache
If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can top the cake with a bit of chocolate ganache. The cake is totally delicious all on its own, but if you want it to stay true to the Starbucks original, it will require a chocolate glaze on top. Simply heat a small amount of whipping cream and stir it into semisweet chocolate chips. EASY!
No worries if you don’t have the right size loaf pan. You can prepare this marble loaf pound cake in a 9″ square cake pan or in a few mini loaf pans. Be sure to not overflow your pan with batter. Otherwise, you will have a burn-on-the-bottom-of-your-oven situation; I can promise you don’t want to deal with that. A square cake tastes just as good as a loaf, honest.
Give this marble loaf pound cake a whirl on these winter days. You most certainly won’t be disappointed. Have a great week and tune in on Friday for another recipe!
If you like this marble loaf pound cake, you should check out:
Brown Sugar Pound Cake with Blueberries and Brown Butter Crumble
Lemon Almond Poppyseed Bundt Cake
Carrot Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Glaze
Marble Loaf Pound Cake
This marble loaf pound cake is a chocolate and vanilla swirled, rich Southern-style pound cake loaf! Perfect for breakfast or dessert!
- Author: Kate Wood
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 1
Ingredients
For the vanilla batter:
- ½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 gm) sugar
- ¼ cup (50 gm) brown sugar
- 1–1/2 large eggs, at room temperature (save the other half for the chocolate batter)
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- ¾ cup (100 gm) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) whole fat buttermilk, at room temperature
For the chocolate batter:
- ½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 gm) sugar
- ¼ cup (50 gm) brown sugar
- 1–1/2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup (20 gm) dark cocoa powder
- ½ cup (65 gm) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) whole fat buttermilk, at room temperature
Instructions
- Move a rack to the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a large 9.25” x 5.25” loaf pan with baking spray (see notes).
- Prepare the vanilla batter by creaming together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed until nearly combined. Add the buttermilk and stir on low to combine. Set this batter aside while you prepare the chocolate batter.
- Cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for three minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the dry ingredients, mixing until the components are almost combined, and then add the buttermilk. Stir on low speed just until combined.
- Scoop 1/2 cup sized portions of the batters into the prepared pan, alternating regularly to achieve a marbled effect. Once all of the batter has been poured in, carefully smooth the top slightly, being careful not to muddy the colors of the batter too much. Insert a knife vertically into the batter and swirl back and forth about five or six times to get a good swirl throughout. Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted just barely comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan.
Notes
- If you don’t have a loaf pan large enough for the batter, feel free to use a 9” square baking pan or pour extra batter into cupcake tins or a mini loaf tin. Be sure to not overflow a pan!
30 thoughts on “Marble Loaf Pound Cake”
Hi Kate -I have made this cake several times now and it is absolutely delicious. However, it is so moist that on a couple of occasions, it broke apart a bit. Should I reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe? Also, if I make only half the recipe, do I use a 7 inch round cake tin? Thanks in advance.
★★★★★
Hmm, interesting. Let me look into it. I don’t have an answer I feel comfortable with right off the top of my head.
Hi Kate – This turned out to be an awesome cake! Thank you for the recipe. I didn’t have whipping cream, so I skipped the glaze but the cake was delicious even without it.
I’m thrilled to hear this! thank you shilpa!
Hiya, i’ve only got low fat buttermilk, would it work as well or should I replace with something else?
That’s great, Joan!
This is the best cake I’ve ever made or tasted – truly great !! Thank you for the recipe. I didn’t have buttermilk, so used the substitution recommendation of 1 cup milk + some lemon juice, and it came out perfect. I also didn’t have dark cocoa powder, but the chocolate parts were very delicious.
★★★★★
HOORAY! Thank you!
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SPECTACULAR! Absolutely amazing. Thank you so much!!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed! 🙂
I’ve made this several times, and it is outstanding every time. I even doubled the recipe and did it in a bundt pan, which came out great and pretty! My only question is that it always comes out flat very even. I enjoy a pound cake that is slightly domed in the middle. Have you tried using baking soda instead of powder? Or a combination of the two? I’m curious if either of those options would give me that dome.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed!! I too have been unable to get it to dome nicely. You’ll see my bread in the photos is essentially flat! I’ve tried a combination of the baking powder and soda but it didn’t yield much different results. If you’re able to get a nice puff please lmk what you did!
So, after much playing around (with each attempt still resulting in a delicious cake!), I made your recipe as is, but baked it at 350 instead of 325. Voila! While I did not get a huge dome, it was certainly a dome, and I loved the texture and taste of the top. The cake was as moist and delicious. I did the same with your lemon pound cake, which was outstanding. Both cakes were huge hits at Easter!
ha! that’s amazing. lowering the temp and baking a bit longer makes total sense. thank you for sharing!!
KATE, OMG THIS LOOKS SO SO GOOD!!! I AM GOING TO MAKE IT TOMOROW! JUST A QUICK QUESTION! I LIVE IN MEXICO AND I CAN NOT FIND BUTTERMILK ANYWHERE I USUALY SUB WITH MILK AND VINEGAR, IS THAT FINE? DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS??
GRACIAS!!!!
Hello! YES! Milk and vinegar is perfect!! 🙂
Kate, this looks yummy. What’s the best way to halve an egg? I’m thinking once cracked into a bowl scramble slightly and divide?
Hi Carla! I usually whisk the egg in a small bowl and then separate in half! 🙂
“Wear two bras to hide your nipples kind of cold.” I love you and I loled. That is all.
bahaha. crossing the line? maybe. sorry, not sorry. 🙂
Hi do you use Dutch processed cocoa powder or natural cocoa powder? I read online somewhere that usually when a recipe calls for baking powder, then use Dutch process cocoa powder; and when the recipe calls for baking soda, then use natural cocoa powder. Thanks!
Dutch processed is great here! 🙂
Hi
What brand of dark cocoa powder did you use in this recipe.
hello! I used Hershey’s here, but there are a number of brands that will work just fine! 🙂
This looks and sounds delish! Could it be made in a large bundt pan and cooked for an hour as well?
hi Dianne! you could certainly pour the batter in the pan but it would be a very small bundt cake. the baking time would likely be a bit less, but it’s hard to say for sure. I would peek in oven about 40 minutes to see how it’s coming along. 🙂
I love a good marble cake but they are so hard to come by. I’m looking forward to trying it out.
I hear you and totally agree. which is why I was THRILLED about this one. 🙂