Marble Cake (3 Layer)

When you can't decide between yellow cake or chocolate cake, this marble cake recipe is what you need. It's so moist and has wonderful flavour (not to mention beautiful swirls). It is the perfect balance of yellow cake with swirls of chocolate, makes beautiful cake layers as well as cupcakes, and it is sturdy enough to hold up well to fondant too.

Dry Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour (342 g)
2 cups sugar (400 g)
2 tsp. baking powder (8 g)
½ tsp. baking soda (3 g)
½ tsp. sea salt (3 g)

Wet Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226 g)
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk (239 g)
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract (12 g)

Marbling:
4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, measure then sifted
3-4 Tbsp. very hot water

Frosting:
Chocolate Buttercream
Vanilla Buttercream

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C/140°C fan, Gas Mark 2). Grease and flour 3 (8x2") cake pans. Place a round cut-out piece of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan.

Put the dry ingredients into the bowl of your mixer. Mix on low speed for at least 30 seconds to combine.

Add the softened butter (cut into pieces) mix on low speed just until it looks like coarse sand. The dry ingredients will be moistened/coated by the butter and will stick to together if you press some between two fingers. Don't over-mix or it will turn into a large dough-like ball.

Add the eggs 1 at a time, mixing until blended.

Add the vanilla to the 1 cup buttermilk. With the mixer on lowest speed gradually pour into the mixer. Increase the speed to #2 or # 3 (on a KitchenAid mixer). Mix for about 2 minutes, batter will be smooth and fluffy. If you are using a hand mixer rather than a stand mixer, mix a bit longer.

Marbling Instructions:
Mix 4 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder with 3-4 Tbsp. very hot water. Stir until smooth and set aside.

Put 1½ cups cake batter into a medium sized bowl and stir in the chocolate mixture to create chocolate batter. Set aside.

Put about a cup of yellow batter into each of the three pans and spread, then add a few dollops of chocolate batter by the spoonful to each of the pans. Swirl with offset spatula or knife (something about ½" wide). Add more yellow batter by the spoonful, adding chocolate batter here and there until finished. Swirl this newly added yellow and chocolate. Be careful not to over-swirl, or you'll lose the contrasting colours.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then turn out.

Choose either the Vanilla or Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and prepare as directed.

Cook's Notes:

Buttermilk Substitute: In a 1 cup measuring cup add 2 Tbsp. white vinegar or lemon juice. Fill the cup with milk, stir and let sit for 5 minutes.