All Recipes | Cakes | Desserts | Eggless
Eggless Marble Butter Cake (Soft Chocolate Vanilla Marble Cake, No Eggs)
When I started baking at thirteen or fourteen, I knew exactly two cakes: a simple vanilla cake and a plain chocolate cake. That was my whole repertoire. So a marble cake has always felt special to me, because it’s both of my first cakes sitting in one tin.
This one is built on my Eggless Butter Cake, the recipe so many of you have baked since I shared it in 2021. I didn’t change the base at all. I simply split the batter in two and turned one part chocolate with a quick cocoa paste.
I bake it most in October. During Navratri there are no eggs in our kitchen for nine days, and this is the cake that keeps everyone happy: with a cup of chai, in a lunch box, or as an evening treat when guests drop in.
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! 💛 Shop the ingredients and tools I use in my Amazon storefront.
Why this eggless marble cake works
- Curd does the job of the eggs. Curd is acidic and baking soda is alkaline. When they meet in the oven they make the bubbles that lift the cake, and the curd keeps it moist for days.
- Butter, not oil. This is a butter cake, so it has that rich, bakery-style flavour and a fine, tender crumb.
- One batter, two colours. No second recipe, no extra bowl of chocolate cake batter. Just a cocoa paste folded into part of it.
Ingredients, and why each one matters
- Cake flour: gives the softest crumb. No cake flour? Use maida: take out 2 tablespoons per cup and replace them with cornflour.
- Baking powder and baking soda: both are needed. The soda reacts with the curd; the powder gives an extra, steady lift.
- Unsalted butter: soft enough that your finger leaves a dent. If you only have salted butter, skip the added salt.
- Caster sugar: dissolves faster than regular sugar and creams better. You can blitz regular sugar in a mixer for a few seconds.
- Curd: plain, full-fat, at room temperature. Thick Greek yoghurt works too; loosen it with a spoon of milk.
- Cocoa powder: Dutch-processed gives the darkest, richest swirls; natural cocoa gives a medium brown. Mixing it into hot milk “blooms” it, so the chocolate tastes much deeper.
Step-by-step
- Get ready. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 7-inch square tin with parchment, leaving extra paper on two sides so you can lift the cake out later.
- Sift the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Sifting spreads the soda evenly, so you never bite into a bitter spot.
- Make the chocolate paste. Stir 1 tsp instant coffee, the cocoa and a spoon of sugar into hot milk until smooth and glossy. Let it cool.
- Cream the butter and sugar. Beat for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. This is where the cake’s softness begins, so don’t rush it.
- Add the curd and vanilla. Beat on low. If the batter looks slightly split for a moment, keep going; it comes together.
- Fold in the flour. Add the flour in three parts and the milk in two, starting and ending with flour, folding with a spatula. Stop as soon as the flour disappears.
- Split and colour. Put the bowl of cooled cocoa paste on your scale, tare it, and spoon in 265–270 g of batter. The rest stays vanilla, so the cake is mostly golden with dark swirls. Fold until even. Both batters should be the same thickness: if the chocolate one is runnier, fold in 1–2 tbsp flour; if thicker, add a teaspoon of milk.
- Layer. Spread a thin layer of vanilla over the base. Drop chocolate spoonfuls on top, spaced apart, then cover with the remaining vanilla, leaving a few chocolate spots peeking through.
- Swirl, just twice. Tap the tin twice on the counter. Push a butter knife down to the base and draw a figure eight through the batter, once lengthwise and once across. Stop there.
- Bake. Middle rack, bottom rod only, for 40 to 45 minutes. Start checking at 35 minutes. If the top needs colour, switch on the top rod for the last 1 to 2 minutes. The top stays flat and turns golden, with the chocolate swirls showing through.
- Cool, then cut. Rest the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, lift it out by the paper, and let it cool completely. Cut with a long, sharp knife, wiping it on a damp cloth between cuts.
My tips for the perfect marble cake
- Use an oven thermometer. My OTG runs hotter than its dial, and most home ovens do.
- Room-temperature curd only. Cold curd hardens the butter and curdles the batter.
- Don’t overmix after the flour. Overmixing makes a butter cake tough.
- Same thickness, clean swirls. Matching the two batters is the real secret of a pretty marble.
- Two swirls, no more. Every extra swirl muddies the colours into a brown cake.
- Cool completely before slicing. A warm marble cake crumbles and the swirls blur.
Substitutions and variations
- Round tin: an 8-inch round tin works, with the same baking time.
- Loaf tin: a 9×5-inch loaf tin also works; it is deeper, so start checking at 50 minutes.
- Richer chocolate: melt 30 g dark chocolate into the hot milk with the cocoa.
Storage
Keep it in an airtight box for 3 days at room temperature, or up to a week in the fridge. Warm a slice for 10 seconds in the microwave and it tastes freshly baked. You can freeze it, well wrapped, for up to a month.
If you bake it, I’d love to know how it turned out. Tag me on Instagram, @deepaliohri.
Eggless Marble Butter Cake
A soft, buttery eggless marble butter cake made with curd. My famous Eggless Butter Cake, split into vanilla and chocolate and swirled together.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a 7-inch square tin with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
- Dissolve the instant coffee in the hot milk, then whisk in the cocoa and sugar until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Beat the butter and caster sugar for 3–4 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Add the curd and vanilla and beat on low until combined.
- Fold in the flour in three parts and the milk in two, starting and ending with flour. Stop as soon as no flour shows.
- Place the bowl of cocoa paste on a scale, tare, and add 265–270 g of batter; fold until even. If the chocolate batter is runnier than the vanilla, fold in 1–2 tbsp flour; if thicker, add 1 tsp milk.
- Spread a thin vanilla layer in the tin, add chocolate spoonfuls spaced apart, then cover with the remaining vanilla.
- Tap the tin twice. Swirl with a butter knife in a figure eight, once lengthwise and once across.
- Bake on the middle rack for 40–45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Start checking at 35 minutes.
- Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, lift out by the paper, and cool completely before slicing.
Video
Notes
- Use an oven thermometer; most home ovens run hotter or cooler than the dial.
- Cold curd will curdle the batter, so take it out an hour ahead.
- Swirl only twice for clear marbling.
- 8-inch round tin: same time. 9x5-inch loaf tin: start checking at 50 minutes.
- Stores 3 days airtight at room temperature, 1 week in the fridge.
Related Recipes You’ll Love
- Eggless Marble Peanut Butter Loaf Cake — another eggless marble, swirled with peanut butter and chocolate.
- Chocolate Orange Marble Cake — a classic marble with a bright orange twist.
- Eggless Coffee Walnut Cake — soft, moist and ready in under an hour.
Want more baking magic in your life? Subscribe to my YouTube channel — Deepali Ohri — for new recipes every week. Follow along for daily baking inspiration: Instagram | Pinterest | Facebook
