German Marble Cake (Mamorkuchen)

If you are looking for a classic Gugelhupf cake - then look no further than this traditional German marble cake recipe. Light, moist, fluffy and chocolaty, this cake is easy to whip up in no time, but is always a hit with guests. The recipe is versatile and can be baked in any form, the black and white marbled dough effects are impressive and the taste is always delicious.

Old-fashioned Mamorkuchen counts as one of the classic recipes of German Baking. There are hundreds of recipe variations, but I think most people will think that their Oma's marble cake is the best.

What is German Marble Cake?

Marble cake is a traditional German poundcake made from a simple sponge dough. In German, this cake is called "Mamorkuchen" - which is the literal translation of marble cake.

As an English speaker, you pronounce it "MAR-MORE-COOK-EN".

It is called marble cake, due to its streaked or mottled patterned dough, which resembles marble. According to the German Baking Guide Book, marble cake has to consists of a third of cocoa flavoured sponge dough.

What does it taste like?

It is a little dry, sweet cake. The main flavours in the cake are vanilla and chocolate.

Mamorkuchen History

Multi-coloured cakes have been noted since the beginning of the 17th century. An old Viennese cookbook talked about the "Torte Mamoree" a cake with marbled dough made out of four colours. Here spinach was used to create green colour!

At first, the dough was coloured with molasses, brown sugar spices or fruit. The first marble cake recipe in English appeared in the 19th century, probably imported by German settlers (Source Mamorkuchen Wikipedia).

How to make Marble Cake

Ingredients:

300 g/ 10.5 oz flour (Germany 405, UK plain flour, USA pastry flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder (affiliate link)
300 g/ 10.5 oz granulated sugar
4 teaspoon vanilla sugar (or use 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (affiliate link))
4 eggs (medium size, at room temperature)
250 g / 8.8 oz butter (softened at room temperature)
200 g/ 8.8 oz sour cream
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa (affiliate link) powder
1 tablespoon milk (at room temperature)

German Marble Cake Recipe Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 180 °C / 356°F top to bottom heat.
2. Grease a Gugelhupf form, a cake ring or a loaf form with butter, and dust with a little flour or breadcrumbs, to prevent the dough from sticking later.
3. In a large bowl, using a stand or hand mixer, whisk the sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract) and butter until creamy.
4. Add the eggs one by one. Lastly add the sour cream.
5. Sieve the flour, salt, baking powder (affiliate link) and baking soda into the mixture (Sieving the flour will make the cake more airy)
6. The flour mixture should be added in little portions and whisked on high speed for about 3 minutes until you achieve a creamy cake batter.
7. Pour or spread ⅔of the batter into your cake form.
8. With the remaining ⅓ add the cocoa powder and milk to the light dough and mix, until the batter is brown.
9. Pour the brown batter onto the light one. Using a fork, pull it through the cake in spiral motions to achieve the marble effect.
10. Bake the cake for about 45-60 minutes. The exact baking time varies between ovens. To test whether the cake is done, prick a skewer in the middle. If it comes out clean, it is done.

How to glaze your marble cake

For German marble cakes, there are generally two main options for decorating it:

1. Dusting it with icing sugar, before serving, is a simple and effective way, also it is not as sweet as the second option.
2. The second popular option is to glaze your marble cake with a chocolate glaze. We like to use dark chocolate for a super cocoa experience. You can also mix the dark chocolate glaze, with a little white chocolate to create another marble effect.

Recipe Variations

Here are some suggestions on how to change this recipe

• Instead of colouring the dough with cocoa powder, you can also use 2 teaspoon Nutella or chocolate spread.
• Add extra flavour to the cake, by adding a teaspoon of rum or rum flavouring to the chocolate dough.

Tips for the BEST Marble Cake

Techniques on how to marble cake

I have researched different techniques to create the marble effect in the dough. What you choose is a personal preference. There is no definite rule on how this cake should be marbled, but here are the most popular techniques.

• Place the dark dough on top of the light dough. Use a fork and mix the dough in spiral motions, while turning the cake form.
• Instead of using a fork you could also use a meat fork to marble the cake. Because the teeth are longer and further apart, you achieve a more pronounced look.
• Another option is to use a knife. First pour in the light dough, then the cocoa coloured one on top. Using a knife make 1 cm incision in the middle. Then sprinkle some granulated sugar into the incicions. The sugar will sink and create a pattern.
• The last option is to add the dark and light dough alternativley in little portions to the form. First half of vanilla batter, then topped by the choclate layer and then finished with another layer of vanilla batter. Then use a skewers or a cake needle and make some cirular motions through the batter, to create the desired effect.

How to avoid your marble cake becoming too dry

• The main reason the cake can turn too dry is if you bake it for too long. That is why it is better to test early on with the skewer than too late.
• Keep all your ingridients at the same temperature.
• Do not skip any steps of the recipe. Dry cakes often happen when a short cut is taken in one of the recipe steps - for example not sieving the flour, or not whisking the eggs for long enough - all the steps are designed to make the consistency of the cake perfect.

How to serve this cake

In Germany, you would enjoy this cake in the afternoon between 3 to 4 pm. This is the traditional time for "Kaffee und Kuchen" (coffee & cake). Serve with coffee, tea and children enjoy this cake with a glass of milk or juice.

Storage Instructions

Mamorkuchen keeps in an airtight container for 3-4 days. However, it is also a great cake to freeze. In the freezer, it should last for up to three months.

More German Cake Recipes

• Käsekuchen (German Cheese Cake)
• Poppyseed Cake (Mohnkuchen)
• Strawberry Cake (Erdbeerkuchen)
• Hazelnut Cake (Haselnusskuchen)
• Blitzkuchen (lightening cake)
• Stollen (German Christmas Cake)