A lovely tender crumbed Marble Cake made extra easy and moist with oil!
Why Use Oil in a Cake?
Oil. Marble Cake with Oil. Yes, I know, I know, that just sounds... meh. Stay with me a minute though. Oil is not as sexy sounding as butter, I know this, but there is a method to this madness!
Not only do oil based cakes turn out very moist, they also have the added advantage of the convenience of oil - no softening required. In an extra bonus oil is also a more frugal choice than butter.
More Cakes with Oil
Easy Lemon Cake
What does this Easy Marble Cake taste like?
This cake reminds me of the bakery cakes of my youth. Those cakes were not dense like a pound cake, they were made inexpensively from accessible ingredients, light cakes perfect for tea time to be paired with that perfect cup of Doodhpatti Chai.
This marble cake recipe with oil results in a cake that is nice and soft, with lightly sweet mellow flavours. The flavours of vanilla and chocolate are distinct, yet not overpowering.
I give the option of ganache on frequent request, but I will be honest and say I prefer it as is.
Quick Visuals
Add the sugar, oil and eggs to a bowl and mix for 2 minutes on high speed. Once the eggs are combined then add the vanilla extract.
Now you will mix your dry ingredients and milk in alternating between the two in batches of 2-3. Mix it until just combined, resist the urge to create a super smooth batter! Pull out a cup of the batter and add in sifted cocoa powder and milk to that mix. This will be the chocolatey part of the cake. Layer the batters in the pan and swirl with a skewer to create a marbled effect.
Bake at 350F till a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, I usually check in at the 55 minute mark. Let it cool for 10 minutes then invert.
How to Make the Ganache
As I have said before I don't feel the cake needs a ganache, but sometimes an occasion calls for it so here's how to make the easiest one.
Warm ¼ cup cream, pour it over ½ cup of chocolate chips or 4 ounces of the chocolate of your choice. Mix well. If the chips/chocolate doesnt melt then you can put in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time and mix until it's all melted.
Drizzle the ganache over the cake and serve.
Note: I usually like more dark chocolate and here I used a semi sweet, but secretly prefer the cake with a milk chocolate ganache (shhh don't tell anyone).
How to Store this Marble Cake
Now this cake is good the day of, but if you wrap it tightly in foil and eat it the next day - my friends, that is just something else! This cake keeps well for up to 3 days at room temperature. You can wrap it well and freeze for up to 3 months.
4 Must Know Cake Tips
- Room temperature eggs are the way to go! Cold eggs won't incorporate as well into the batter.
- Use a light hand to measure your flour, making sure to aerate the flour before lightly filling the cup measure. ( before you ask, yes I will add grams to the measurements soon!)
- Do not overmix your cake batter - I run the electric beater initially but the last bit of dry ingredients I mix in with a spatula. If you over mix flour it activates the gluten in it leading to a tougher cake.
- ALWAYS check on your cake a few minutes before it's "supposed to" be ready - pans and ovens will lead to variation in bake time.
Please note that this Easy Marble Cake with Oil is substantive because of the eggs, but it is not quite a pound cake. If you are looking for one then two of my favourites are my Nutella Pound Cake and Cream Cheese Pound Cake.
Made this recipe? Rate it below! I love hearing from you guys! If you want to share your baked beauty with me then tag me @flourandspiceblog on Instagram. Can't wait to see your Marble Cake!
Easy Marble Cake with Oil
Equipment
- electric beater
- 9*5 Loaf Pan
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour 210g
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder 7.5g
- ½ tsp salt 3g
- ½ cup neutral oil (such as corn oil) 112g
- 1 ½ cup sugar 300g
- 4 eggs 53g * 4
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract 6g
- ½ cup milk 125g
Chocolate Mix
- 3 tbsp cocoa (sifted) 21 g
- 1 tbsp milk 15g
Ganache (Optional)
- ½ cup chocolate chips (or 4 oz chocolate) 115g
- ¼ cup whipping cream 60g
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350, grease a nonstick loaf tin (9*5)
- Combine the first three ingredients in a bowl, set aside
- Use a mixing bowl to whip the oil, sugar and eggs together on high speed for about two minutes.
- Add the vanilla, beat for 30 seconds to combine.
- Alternately add the flour and milk to the bowl in two batches and mix until just combined. Do the last little bit with a spatula to avoid over mixing.
- Put a cup of the batter into a small bowl, add the 3 tbsp cocoa and 1 tbsp milk and mix until just combined.
- The batter for this cake is thin, so carefully add it to the loaf pan, alternating between dollops of vanilla and chocolate batter
- Use a long skewer or a knife to swirl the batter together
- Bake for an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Wait ten minutes and then remove from the pan.
Ganache (Optional)
- Heat the cream until simmering, pour over the chocolate and mix well. If it doesn't melt the chocolate after a little stirring then microwave for 20 seconds to help the process along.
- Spread the ganache over the cake and serve.
Video
Notes
- I use dutch cocoa because that's what is commonly available in Canada, but this works with regular too
- reducing the sugar will reduce the moisture in the cake so please check on it a little earlier if you choose to do so!
- this cake doesn't need a ganache, but I often get asked for how to make it so I've included that here as optional
Want to try this recipe? Pin it so you don't lose it!
Mahnoor Shehzad says
Hello! I want to pin this recipe, but I’m not getting an option for that.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hmm I am not sure why! I will try and figure it out - thank you for letting me knoW!
Aaliyah says
Hi,
Can i add yoghurt instead of milk?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Aaliyah! I haven't tried it with yoghurt but I imagine it will become a little heavier. If you are looking to use yogurt in a cake I have a yogurt cake recipe on the blog that I have been making since I will little and I sitll love it!
Amrita says
Hi Sarah. I dont have a loaf pan so can i use the normal round cake tin to make this? And which size? Please let me know thanks
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi! I have not made it in a round pan (they usually take more batter) but you can try in a 8 inch and just keep an eye on timing because it'll bake faster!
Isbah Khurram says
Salaam. I tried this recipe without any changes and it turned out delicious! Wish I could add pictures here. Thank you!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thank you Isbah!!!
Maria Waleed says
It was so delicious. Had my slice with a cup of tea! Heavenly! Thank you Sarah!
Zahra Naqvi says
this cake turned out really good but it took lots of time to measure and to bake plus u guys please check out my Instagram page it is @sweetsparkles Thanks for sharing .
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Zahra! Sorry to hear it took a lot of time for you to measure, but I am glad you liked it!
Avnika Mathur says
have baked it multiple times till now. made it again on 31st but used 1/4 cup melted butter and 1/4 cup oil. the taste and texture was really smooth.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
I LOVE those changes and am going to try it with them myself! Thank you for sharing!!!
Rausar says
I baked this cake twice, both the times it turned out Perfect!!!!!!! When the cake got out of the oven we really couldn't taste the sugar that much, so we decided to let it cool down it tasted really good. My family and I really liked this recipe. Thanks for sharing it.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Rausar!!! I am SO happy to hear that you enjoyed it and I hear you on the sweetness, it definitely becomes MUCH tastier as it sits! Thanks for sharing your comments here!
Lubna says
I’ve already baked this cake twice! This recipe is perfect! The chocolate is just the right amount and gives the marble cake its perfect balance. Thank you for the recipe!
Debbie says
Looks great. Can it be made without milk?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Debbie! You can reduce the milk a little but you can't make it without it unfortunately!
Jamila Syed says
I made the marble cake with oil, it was so good that it was devour within days.
I would rather bake with oil then butter. Thank u Sarah.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
That is wonderful to hear! thank you Jamila!!!
Zee says
Sadly was too dry. And it felt like it was lacking any flavour. Just tasted like a sweet basic cake.
Sarah Mir says
Dry suggests to me it was overbaked, and it's definitely a milder cake (as it says in the post), sorry it didn't work for you, thanks for letting me know!
Linda says
Metric or Imperial cups? looks tasty...
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thanks Linda! It's metric here in Canada!
Dawn Tan says
Hi. Can I reduce sugar?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Dawn! I am sorry for the late reply, been having some glitches I worked through. I would not recommend reducing the sugar here, but you can absolutely do whatever is convenient.
Dawn Tan says
Hi. Can I have the ingredients in grams for easy marble cake with oil?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Dawn - here we typically use cups and the like which I do recognize is less accurate, but I do believe you can look up the equivalencies.
Gigi says
I just did this recipe and I have to say that is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, I have a small pan and an electric mini oven so I was sceptical but it turns out amazing. Thank you very muc . Hugs from Venezuela.
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Gigi from Venezuela!!! Thank you so very much for trying this recipe and I am thrilled to hear that you like it!