This Eggless Marble Cake is nothing short of extraordinary! It’s buttery, moist, and rich. So, when you can’t decide between vanilla or chocolate, have both! The recipe includes step-by-step photos and lots of tips.
Everything You Need For This Egg-Free Marble Cake
Eggless Marble Cake Recipe Highlights
Chocolate or vanilla? When you can’t decide which flavor you like best, this Eggless Marble cake is the answer.
It’s soft, tender, rich, and totally irresistible! It’s easy to make, yet every bite is luscious.
I like to bake this cake in a loaf pan, then slice it like bread. But you can also use a Bundt pan. This is a big cake, and it will feed a small crowd, so it’s perfect for any celebration!
The BEST Eggless Marble cake I’ve ever had. And here’s how you can make it.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and instructions (scroll down).
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
- Flour: Standard all-purpose flour works best here; skip the cake flour, bread flour, and wheat flour.
- Baking powder & Baking soda: Make sure they’re not expired or too old.
- Salt: I use kosher or sea salt. If you only have table salt handy, I recommend reducing the amount to half.
- Milk: For baking, I like to use whole milk. However, you can use any milk you have handy.
- Vinegar: You can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
- Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter, but if you only have salted butter handy, you can use it. In this case, skip the salt called in the recipe.
- Sugar: Regular white granulated sugar o caster sugar.
- Vanilla extract: For optimal flavor, reach for pure vanilla instead of imitation. Even better, try homemade vanilla extract!
- Unsweetened natural cocoa powder: I like to use unsweetened natural cocoa powder instead of Dutch-processed, because it’s more acidic and reacts with baking soda, allowing your baked goods to rise. Also, note that the recipe calls for natural cocoa powder, not the Dutch process. These cocoa powders are not interchangeable. The acidity in natural cocoa powder activates the baking soda in the recipe and causes the batter to rise in the oven. Dutch-process cocoa powder has been treated with an alkali to neutralize its acidity and is therefore not acidic enough to activate the baking soda.
- Instant espresso coffee: This is optional, but I recommend its addition because it enhances the chocolate flavor. Adding a little bit will make things taste more “chocolatey” without giving a coffee flavor.
Step By Step Recipe Photo Tutorial
Please check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and instructions (scroll down).
1 – First, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Then, combine milk and vinegar in another bowl. Set aside.
2 – Then, beat together butter and granulated sugar. Add vanilla extract.
3 – Add dry ingredients and milk mixture; beat until just combined.
4 – Stir together cocoa, hot water, and espresso powder.
5 – Take one-third of the vanilla batter and place it in a small bowl. Fold the cocoa mixture into the batter until blended.
6 – Spread a cup of vanilla batter on the bottom of the pan. Dollop on half of the chocolate batter, then repeat with another heaping cup of vanilla batter, the remainder of the chocolate, and top with the rest of the vanilla batter. NOTE: There’s no need to swirl the batters together to get a marbled effect.
7 – Bake at 350º F for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Let it cool and unmold.
Eggless Cake Success Tips
Eggless Cake Success Tips
Measure the ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale.
Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes before getting started to give it plenty of time to reach the ideal recipe temperature.
Don’t overmix the batter. Instead, mix just until you’ve evenly distributed the ingredients throughout the batter.
Bake the batter as soon as it is ready.
Don’t open the oven door until your baked good has set. Leave the oven closed until the minimum time is stated in the recipe.
Every oven is different, so baking times always have to be taken with a grain of salt. Oven thermostats can be wildly off, affecting baking time, so keep an eye on yours.
Adapt This Recipe for Other Food Allergies
Adapt This Recipe for Other Food Allergies
This recipe is egg-free, but you can certainly adapt it to other food allergies.
Gluten-Free: Substitute all-purpose flour for 1-to-1 Gluten-Free flour. This is my favorite brand.
Dairy-Free: Use your favorite plant-based milk, dairy-free, or vegan butter. Make sure to use an unflavored, unsweetened variety of non-dairy milk. Soy and oat milk have the best consistency and very neutral flavors. To make your own dairy-free buttermilk at home, check my Easy Homemade Buttermilk Substitute [Video] post.
My favorite dairy-free butter brands for baking are:
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make this recipe in a Bundt pan (10 cups capacity).
It may be possible to switch between oil and butter in recipes, but it is not something I recommend. Butter adds a surprising amount of flavor to cakes and cupcakes, particularly vanilla or plain ones. Also, this recipe is made by the creaming method – beating butter and sugar together – which helps to incorporate air into the batter to make it fluffy; if oil is used, the cake will be flatter and denser.
Yes, you can omit it! But, if possible, I recommend its addition because it enhances the chocolate flavor. Adding a little bit will make things taste more “chocolatey” without giving a coffee flavor.
Storing & Freezing Instructions
Store: Cover the cake tightly and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze:
- Let the eggless marble cake cool completely.
- Wrap it up in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then with foil to avoid freezer burn.
- Place inside a large freezer Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
Ready to eat it? Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before slicing and serving.
More egg-Free Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
I have several eggless cake recipes on my site and in my cookbook! Here are a few favorites:
- Easy Eggless Vanilla Pound Cake
- How to Make a Cake Mix Box without Eggs
- Eggless Carrot Cake
- The Best Eggless Chocolate Cake Ever
- Eggless Vanilla Cake Recipe
- Eggless Red Velvet Cake
- Browse more recipes…
Eggless Marble Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cup (360 ml) milk (I used whole milk)
- 1 ½ tablespoon (22.5 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup (180 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) hot water
- ¼ cup (30 g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (180º F). Lightly grease a 9.5 x 5-inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Reserve.
- In a mixing bowl, combine milk and vinegar. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. When it is ready, the milk will be slightly thickened, and you will see small curdled bits. Reserve.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy on medium-high speed, for 3 – 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add vanilla; continue beating to combine.
- Reduce speed to low and add half of the flour mixture. Scrape down the mixing bowl with a spatula and turn the batter over several times to ensure all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Add milk mixture; continue beating to incorporate. Add the remaining flour; beat just until combined. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be slightly thick, and that is okay.
- Stir together hot water, cocoa and instant coffee powder (if using) until smooth and well combined.
- Take one-third of the vanilla batter and place it in a small bowl. Fold the cocoa mixture into the batter until blended.
- Spread a cup of vanilla batter in the bottom of the pan. Dollop on half of the chocolate batter, then repeat with another heaping cup of vanilla batter, the remainder of the chocolate, and top with the rest of the vanilla batter. NOTE: There's no need to swirl the batters together to get a marbled effect.
- Bake the cake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when poked in the center. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. Test it with a cake tester; if it's not quite done, give it another 5 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil after 40 min of baking.
- Remove the cake from the oven, and after 10 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool.
- Measure the ingredients correctly. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale.
- Preheat the oven at least 15 minutes before getting started to give it plenty of time to reach the ideal recipe temperature.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Mix just until you’ve evenly distributed the ingredients throughout the batter.
- Bake the batter as soon as it is ready.
- Don’t open the oven door until your baked good has set. Leave the oven closed until the minimum time stated in the recipe.
- Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
Nutrition
Originally posted in February 2020, the post content was edited to add more helpful information, no change to the recipe in August 2022.
