Marble Bundt Cake with Buttermilk and Vanilla

Step-by-step method

At a glance

You're creating a stunning Bundt cake where vanilla and chocolate batters swirl together into gorgeous marbled patterns. The key to success is making sure all your ingredients start at room temperature, then carefully alternating the flour and buttermilk so the batter stays smooth and creamy—the buttermilk does double duty by keeping the cake moist and preventing curdling. Beyond that, it's mostly a hands-off bake, though the long cooling time (1–2 hours before slicing) is worth the wait to keep those delicate crumbs from squishing.

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Preheat the oven and prepare the tin

Preheat the oven to 165 °C (150 °C fan). Grease the Bundt tin thoroughly with butter and dust with coarse flour, fine semolina, or breadcrumbs. Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start.
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Mix the dry ingredients

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

For this step
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385 gram
All-purpose wheat flour

2 teaspoon
Baking Powder

3 gram
Baking soda

4 gram
Salt
3/10

Beat the butter with sugar and vanilla

Put the softened butter, sugar and vanilla seeds into a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater on high speed for 2–3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Don't use a stick blender, as it won't beat enough air into the batter.

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225 gram
Unsalted Butter

250 gram
Granulated Sugar

1 piece
Vanilla Bean

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Beat in the oil and eggs

Pour the oil into the butter mixture, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Continue beating for another 2 minutes, until you have a smooth, creamy emulsion.

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75 milliliter
Sunflower Oil

4 piece
Chicken Eggs
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Fold in the flour and buttermilk alternately

Turn the mixer down to low speed, or switch to a spatula. Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately: ⅓ of the flour mixture, half the buttermilk, ⅓ of the flour mixture, the rest of the buttermilk, then the final ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix only until no dry streaks remain. Adding all the buttermilk at once will curdle the batter, and overmixing will make it dense.

For this step
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240 milliliter
Cultured Buttermilk
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Make the chocolate batter

Transfer about ⅓ of the pale batter to a clean bowl. Sift the cocoa powder over it, pour in the buttermilk, and stir until smooth. The buttermilk balances out the way cocoa dries the batter.

For this step
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60 gram
Dutch-Processed Cocoa

120 milliliter
Cultured Buttermilk
7/10

Fill the tin and marble the batters

Spoon a layer of the pale batter into the tin, add the chocolate batter on top, then cover with the remaining pale batter. Dip a skewer or the handle of a spoon into the batter and swirl it around the whole tin in a figure-of-eight motion.
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Bake the cake

Bake for 50–60 minutes. Because the batter is quite moist, it may take a little longer. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, with no wet crumbs.
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Let it rest briefly in the tin

Take the tin out of the oven and let the cake rest in it for 10–15 minutes so the crumb can firm up. Then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack or plate.
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Let it cool completely

Wait 1–2 hours until the cake has cooled completely at room temperature before slicing. If you cut into it while it's still warm, the crumb will squash into a gummy texture under the knife, steam will escape, and the slices will crumble.

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Marble Bundt Cake with Buttermilk and Vanilla

Name: Dreamy Marble Bundt Cake
Prep time: 31 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 188 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 teaspoon Baking Powder; 60 gram Dutch-Processed Cocoa; 225 gram Unsalted Butter; 1 piece Vanilla Bean; 385 gram All-purpose wheat flour; 4 gram Salt; 75 milliliter Sunflower Oil; 3 gram Baking soda; 4 piece Chicken Eggs; 250 gram Granulated Sugar; 360 milliliter Cultured Buttermilk

everydaybyyumsto

Prep 31 min Cook 55 min

Plus 1 h 42 min of resting (not counted in active time)

11 Ingredients

10 Steps

Hard Difficulty

About this recipe

A soft, moist crumb where pale vanilla batter swirls together with dark chocolate ribbons 🍫 Every slice looks a little different, and every one smells of butter and real vanilla. Ahh. This is exactly the kind of Bundt cake that belongs on the table for Sunday coffee ☕, or as a gift when you're heading out to visit someone. I add buttermilk to the batter, which keeps it soft even the next day, along with good-quality Dutch cocoa, which gives the dark swirls a deep colour and a gentle chocolate flavour. The result comes down to two tricks: all your ingredients need to be at room temperature, and you must add the flour and buttermilk alternately, or the batter will curdle. You'll need a large Bundt tin. So let's get baking — you're going to fall in love with this marble cake 💜

Vegetarian For guests Desserts

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Step-by-step method

At a glance

Preheat the oven and prepare the tin

Mix the dry ingredients

For this step

Beat the butter with sugar and vanilla

For this step

Beat in the oil and eggs

For this step

Fold in the flour and buttermilk alternately

For this step

Make the chocolate batter

For this step

Fill the tin and marble the batters

Bake the cake

Let it rest briefly in the tin

Let it cool completely

How it went

Nobody has tried this recipe yet

Marble Bundt Cake with Buttermilk and Vanilla

Ingredients — what you'll need

About this recipe

Want a recipe like this every Thursday?

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