For some reason I just can't seem to get marble cake right. I've tried alternating the chocolate and I've tried pouring in the vanilla and then dropping on the chocolate. I also end up with way too much chocolate (although it seems I put aside the 1/3 batter). It just doesnt seem to come out right.

Does anyone have a scratch recipe they use? Can I use my regualr vanilla recipe and add chocolate to the third?

I have a wedding cake and graduation cake coming up and of course they both want "MARBLE"!!!!!!!!!!! I need secific instrucitons if anyone can help, please...

i use a victoria sponge recipe, make it up vanilla as normal, then take out a bit and ad some cocoa powder to it. ont really measure it though.
i think its a bit of an inexact science, some people probably do manage to get each slice with the same proportions of flavours, i dont! but id say that is the nature of the beast
i alternate spoonfuls of each mixtre, then swirl through it a bit with a knife or skewer.
xx

I'm not sure if you are supposed to 1/3 of the mix for the chocolate. My recipe says to us 1 c. and then add the chocolate to it. I just glop it on top of the vanilla and use a skewer to swirl through. Seems to work for me.

......Can I use my regualr vanilla recipe and add chocolate to the third?.......

Yes, you can use your usual vanilla recipe but......I think your problem is you are making too much choco batter. Usually only 1 to 1 1/2 cups of batter is set aside for choco to be added to it.
Drop the choco batter into the pan of vanilla batter then use a knife or fork to draw thru the batter - spreading the choco batter. You can use straight lines or swirl it.

Thank you. Most recipes I come across says 1/3 and it always seems too much as if you cut a piece you could very well just get chocolate. I tried the Martha Stewart recipe yesterday and it said to add water to the chocolate and it came out very watery. I am assuming I don't have to add water if I use my own vanilla? Do I just stir in the cocoa powder? I will try again this way and drop it in and swirl. 1-1 1/2 cups sound right.
Thanks for the help

When I marble it doesn't go all the way through it just stays on top. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for your help.
Jen...

this is what works for me:

I randomly glob the chocolate batter on top of the vanilla batter. Then I take a knife and drag it thru the batter going back and forth lengthwise, then I do the same going widthwise. This incorporates the chocolate and vanilla and you get a nice marbling effect. DO NOT OVER DO IT!! just go thru lengthwise & widthwise once. Then I put my knife at least 2 inches away from the corners, and drag the knife thru the batter to the corner edges.

I get a nice effect this way, and I really only use about 1 cup sometimes less of chocolate batter.

hth

thanks I'll try that. I used a knife too but the chocolate stayed at the top. I'll try it again though!
Jen...

I use a french vanilla mix and a milk chocolate mix. Then I start pouring some vanilla in the pan. Then pour the chocolate in 5 spots on top of the vanilla. Then more vanilla on top and then swirl. Depending on the size of the cake I use all of the vanilla and part of the chocolate. I then just bake off the chocolate in a small pan.

For my 12x18 I use 2 vanilla mixes and 1 chocolate. I marble all kinds of flavors this way.

I've done a marble cake from a mix and marble cake from scratch--the recipe I use for scratch is the Betty Crocker cookbook recipe. You don't want to thin your chocolate batter out, because then it'll just incorporate with what you already have; you want it to be a bit denser so it stays in one spot.

The way I do it is I take out a cup and a half or so of batter--or whatever the recipe says to use, it's something like that--and mix in the cocoa and baking soda/powder. Then I take a serving spoon and scoop glops out on top of what's already in the pan. If I don't use all the batter, that's fine! I make the glops about an inch and a half to two inches apart. Then I take a butter knife and draw it all the way down the pan, through the glops, in a sort of s-curve pattern, going back and forth three or four times as I move down the pan. Turn the pan 90 degrees and repeat. Don't do more than this, or you'll over-mix and have a light chocolate cake! I haven't had anybody complain yet about it.

(And yes, the denser chocoalte mix is key, because that helps it sink down into the cake, too.)

mellormom....i had the same issue as you. So the last time I made a marble cake, I first swirled with the knife and then I "folded" in the chocolate 2-3 times. This way you're pulling vanilla batter from the bottom and pushing some chocolate batter down into the cake.

Hope that makes sense.

thanks!
Jen...

I was just getting ready to post a question about marble cake when I came across this thread. I understand the method's that you use to create a marble but what happens when the cakes have 2 different consisties.
My chocolate cake batter is really thin (liquidy) when I prepare it and the vanilla is a pound cake so the batter is thicker.
What do I do to make adjustments for the difference in the batter consisties?

cakeandpartygirl - I don't think you can use two seperate recipies, escpecially ones so different, because they will bake at different rates. Add melted chocolate or cocoa powder to your vanilla batter.


What I do when I marble flavors (I've never actually done vanilla & chocolate, usually something like coconut and raspberry or lemon and strawberry) I pour enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan into the pan and spread it out really well. Then, I take the other batter and put it in a piping bag w/o tip and pipe it in a spiral, starting at the center (round cake). I cover this with the other batter, and then run a knife through back and fourth one direction. I really like the marble I get this way HTH

sayhellojana,
thanks for that information. I will have to experiment with the vanilla cake and see how much chocolate to add

I bake from scratch. I use my standard vanilla cake recipe, remove almost half, then add in the cocoa and a few TBSP of milk to that half. I have found (through trial and error!) the best method for me is to blob vanilla then choc then vanilla then choc etc. I don't mean one LAYER of choc then one layer of vanilla etc, just large spoonfuls into the pan until both batters are all used up.. This works for me as my scratch cake is not a runny batter but has a bit of 'body'.

I did a marble the other day. I used the marble cake mix (DH), and did the WASC with it. I put back part of it and added my chocolate that came with the mix. Then I did just like Cakes22 with the knife drag. Gave a beautiful marble. Be sure you're not using a steak knife, you need a butter knife. Someing with a little width but not too wide IMO.

How much cocoa or melted chocolate to add to the 1-1 1/2 cups of batter? I have a couple of cakes coming up (one for Monday) that requested marble and I really would like to make it from scratch.

i just add until it looks/ tastes chocolately enough!
xx

I make one recipe of chocolate pound cake and one recipe of french vanilla pound cake. I then drop spoonfulls of each batter alternating in the pan and run through it a couple of times with a butter knife. I actually use the same amount of chocolate as vanilla. The people I'm baking for seem to like that there is just as much chocolate as vanilla. The recipes I'm using seem to work with one another in that they bake up the same.