Marble Cake

A fluffy and moist, old fashioned three colour marble cake topped with luscious pink buttercream!

5 from 21 votes

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Course: Cakes

Cuisine: Cake

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 40

Servings: serves

Calories: 416kcal

Cost: $5

Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
Grease and line a round 20cm cake tin with baking paper and set aside.
Place the butter, caster sugar, salt and vanilla extract into a bowl. Beat together with a stand-mixer or hand-held beaters until pale and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).
Slowly add the eggs (one at a time) while continuing to beat through until completely combined.
Sift in the self raising flour and stir with a spoon until just combined (don't over-mix).
Divide the mixture equally between 3 bowls.
In the first bowl, add 1 drop of food colouring and mix to combine.
In the second bowl, add the cocoa powder and milk and mix to combine.
Leave the remaining mixture plain.
Place spoonfuls of the mixture into the prepared baking tin. Use a knife to gently swirl the three colours to create a pattern.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tested with a skewer (see notes).
Leave the cake to cool in the tray for 15 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, beat the butter in a bowl until pale and fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).
Slowly add the icing sugar mixture, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring and continue to beat until smooth and creamy.
Spread the buttercream frosting over the cooled marble cake and serve.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Grease and line a round 20cm cake tin with baking paper and set aside.
Place sugar and butter into the Thermomix bowl and and mix for 15 seconds, Speed 5.
Add the eggs, salt, vanilla extract and self-raising flour and mix for 15 seconds, Speed 5. Scrape down sides of mixing bowl with spatula, then mix for a further 10 seconds, Speed 5.
Divide the mixture equally between 3 bowls.
In the first bowl, add 1 drop of food colouring and mix to combine.
In the second bowl, add the cocoa powder and milk and mix to combine.
Leave the remaining mixture plain.
Place spoonfuls of the mixture into the prepared baking tin. Use a knife to gently swirl the three colours to create a pattern.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tested with a skewer (see notes).
Leave the cake to cool in the tray for 15 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, place the icing sugar into the Thermomix bowl and mix for 10 seconds on Speed 9.
Add the butter, milk, vanilla extract and food colouring to the bowl. Mix for 30 seconds on Speed 4.
Spread the buttercream frosting over the cooled marble cake and serve.

RECIPE NOTES & TIPS

INGREDIENTS:

Self-raising flour - store bought or you can make your own self-raising flour by adding 2 teaspoons of baking powder to every 1 cup of plain flour and sifting together.
Icing sugar mixture - has a little cornflour added to it which stops it from forming lumps. Icing sugar mixture sets softer than pure icing sugar (which sets hard!) I recommend using icing sugar mixture when making buttercream as it results in a smooth, soft, creamy and spreadable frosting.

OTHER TIPS:

Tips for making marble cake - use butter (not margarine) as butter contains more fat which keeps cakes moist when baked. Beat the butter and sugar together thoroughly as this allows air to enter the ingredients. Beat the cream and butter for approximately 5 minutes. Beat between each addition of the eggs. Don't beat the mixture once you've added the flour - just gently fold it through with a spoon.
How to check if the cake is cooked - start checking if it’s ready approximately 10 minutes before the recipe states. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
If you find that your cake is browning too much in the oven - simply place a sheet of foil loosely over the top and continue cooking.
Tips for making buttercream - beat the butter until it’s completely pale, soft and creamy – this will take approximately 5 minutes. Stop every minute or so to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Sift the icing sugar mixture to avoid any lumps. Add 1-2 drops of food colouring if you would like your buttercream to be coloured.
Storing butter cake - butter cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days (it’s also fine to leave a butter cake frosted with buttercream at room temperature for 3 days). Do not store butter cake in the fridge as it will dry out.
Freezing - alternatively you can freeze an un-iced butter cake for up to 2 months (wrap in plastic wrap and then cover in two layers of foil).