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Marble Cupcakes

Last Updated On: April 23, 2024 | Published: April 23, 2024 by Melissa Diamond | 6 Comments
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Today we are sharing our latest recipe for homemade marble cupcakes! They are so moist and flavorful, with just the right balance of chocolate and vanilla.

Marble Cupcakes on a cake platter, topped with chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles.

These cupcakes are fluffy and soft with a fine crumb. They bake up with a slight dome and are perfect with chocolate or vanilla buttercream! Keep this recipe in mind for your next celebration (or just because)!

How to Make Marble Cupcakes

You can find the full, printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Here is a quick look at our steps!

One thing that you will notice right away is that we are using a version of the reverse creaming method. This means that we added the softened butter to the dry ingredients right off the bat, rather than creaming butter and sugar, alternating wet and dry ingredients, etc.

This method of mixing coats the flour with butter as a first step, which prevents the over-development of gluten. The result is a softer, more tender cake.

  • First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan(s) with cupcake liners.
  • Put the first 5 ingredients into the bowl of your mixer. These dry ingredients include cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 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.
Photo grid of Dry Ingredients and Dry Ingredients plus Butter.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until blended. 
  • Add the vanilla extract to the buttermilk. 
  • With the mixer on lowest speed gradually pour the buttermilk mixture into the mixer. Increase the speed to #2 or # 3 (on a KitchenAid mixer). Mix for about two minutes. The batter will be smooth.
Photo grid of making the vanilla cake batter.

Making the Chocolate Batter

Once the Vanilla Cake Batter has been prepared, it is time to make the chocolate batter.

  • In a small bowl, mix ⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder with the same amount of very hot water. Mix with a spoon until completely smooth.
  • Next, put 3 cups vanilla cake batter into a medium sized bowl and gently stir in the cocoa & water mixture to create chocolate batter. Set aside. Now you have approximately the same amount of chocolate batter as you do vanilla.
Photo grid for adding cocoa and water mixture to the vanilla cake batter.

Marbling the Batter

  • Now it is time to fill the cupcakes. Each cupcake will have about ¼ cup of batter total. Alternate between the vanilla and chocolate batter by the spoonful. As an optional step, once filled, you can give each cupcake a quick swirl with a toothpick or knife before baking.
Photo grid for filling cupcake liners with chocolate and vanilla batter, then swirling with toothpick.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-17 minutes- the tops should spring back when lightly touched and an inserted toothpick should come out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Adjust time as needed.
Marble Cupcakes, freshly baked on a cooling rack.

Frosting the Cupcakes

We frosted our cupcakes with a simple chocolate buttercream frosting. This is a combination of butter, unsweetened cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, milk, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt.

This chocolate buttercream pipes great and is very easy to work with. Once the cupcakes have cooled, you can decorate however you like. We created simple "rose swirls" using a 2D piping tip, and topped with sprinkles. (See our cupcake decorating basics video if you'd like to learn more!)

Piping rose swirls onto the marble cupcakes using a 2D piping tip.

Here's a peek inside! Each cupcake will likely look different, but you'll have a good balance of both flavors.

Marble Cupcakes on a cake platter.

Recipe FAQs

No, these cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container, sealed bakery box, or under a cake dome in a cool place in your house. Room temperature is fine-- but in a hot kitchen, the frosting may become too soft.

After 1-2 days, move to the refrigerator for freshness. Cupcakes and frostings that contain butter (which is most of them!) will always taste best at room temperature because butter becomes firm when chilled.

For this reason, if you do refrigerate the cupcakes, you should remove them from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving. This will allow time for them to warm and soften.

Yes! Make your life easier and work in advance whenever possible. Just as with the majority our cakes and cupcakes, (from butter pecan cupcakes to red velvet cupcakes, buttermilk pound cake and more), these cupcakes freeze beautifully- and can be frozen for up to three months!

After baking and cooling, line the cupcakes up in rows on a sheet cake board or tray. Wrap in a sheet or two of plastic wrap and then wrap tightly in foil. Into the freezer they go!

To thaw, move the cupcakes (still wrapped) to the kitchen counter. After about 20 minutes or so, loosen or remove the wrapping until ready to frost.

We've made several cupcake recipes that feature swirls of chocolate or other flavors.

In addition to our scratch Marble Cake , Marble Pound Cake, and Easy Marble Cake from cake mix, we also have a great Almond Raspberry Swirl Cake, Easy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Marble Cake, and Snickerdoodle Cake.

It is best to mix cocoa powder with very hot water before adding it to cake batter. This is known as "blooming' the cocoa, and doing so adds richness and develops the flavor.

Another reason to combine cocoa powder & water first is that cocoa powder absorbs moisture. Stirring cocoa directly into the cake batter could result in a cake that is not quite as moist.

We do have some recipes (like our chocolate buttermilk cake) that call for cocoa where the blooming step is omitted. We do this with milder chocolate cakes, and these recipes often call for a bit more milk, buttermilk, or vegetable oil to offset the addition of cocoa powder.

More Cakes with Chocolate

If you love chocolate, we have many, many more chocolate cakes to share with you! Some of our most popular are our Chocolate cake from scratch, Chocolate Sour Cream Cake, Easy Chocolate Mousse Cake, and Cookies and Cream Cake.

You'll find many more in our Cake Recipes section!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! We hope that you enjoy the Marble Cupcakes Recipe.

Make sure to check out our full collection of cake recipes as well as our collection of free cake decorating video tutorials!

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Marble Cupcakes on a cake platter.

Marble Cupcakes

BY Melissa and Bebe
These moist, soft, and fluffy cupcakes have the perfect balance of chocolate and vanilla flavor.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 16 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 24 cupcakes
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Ingredients

  • 3 cups cake flour (342g)
  • 2 cups sugar (400g)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened. (226g)
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature. (If you are in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
  • 1 ¼ cup (299g) buttermilk *If you do not have buttermilk see note below.
  • 1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract

For Creating the Chocolate Batter

  • ⅓ cup plus one tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (35g) measure then sift. Lightly spoon into measuring cup and level off. (This is approximately 7 tablespoons total).
  • ⅓ cup plus one tablespoon very hot water
  • 3 cups vanilla cake batter

Chocolate Buttercream

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g) (do not soften butter in the microwave)
  • 6 cups confectioners sugar (Adjust slightly up or down to your liking) (690g)
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa. Measure, then sift. (82g)
  • ¾ cup Milk. Add slowly. Stop when desired consistency is reached. (Add a bit more if needed). (180g)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (12g)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (6g)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan(s) with cupcake liners.
  • Put the first 5 ingredients into the bowl of your mixer. This is the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 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 ¼ 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 two minutes, batter will be smooth. If you are using a hand mixer rather than a stand mixer, mix a bit longer.

Making Chocolate Batter and Marbling

  • In a small bowl, mix the ⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder with ⅓ cup + 1 Tablespoon very hot water. Mix with a spoon until completely smooth. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes so that cocoa flavor can develop.
  • Next, put 3 cups vanilla cake batter into a medium sized bowl and gently stir in the chocolate/cocoa mixture to create chocolate batter. Set aside. Now you have approximately the same amount of chocolate batter as you do vanilla.
  • Now it is time to fill the cupcake liners. Each cupcake will have about ¼ cup of batter total. Alternate between the vanilla and chocolate batter by the spoonful. Every so often, check the amount of chocolate vs. vanilla batter remaining so that you can adjust how much of each flavor you are using per cupcake if needed.
  • As an optional step, once filled, you can give each cupcake a quick swirl with a toothpick or knife before baking.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-17 minutes- the tops should spring back when lightly touched and an inserted toothpick should come out clean or with a few crumbs attached. Adjust time as needed.
  • Move the cupcakes from the pan very soon after removing from the over. Cool them on a cooling rack.

For the Chocolate Buttercream

  • Add butter and mix on low to medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla and blend into the butter. Add powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder.
  • Add most of the milk. Begin mixing at low speed so you won't have a cloud of powdered sugar in your kitchen.
  • Continue to mix adding remaining milk as needed. It may take 5 to 6 minutes to reach the smoothness and consistency you like. It will take longer if using a hand mixer. As you mix the frosting will become very smooth. You can add additional milk (1 Tablespoon at a time) if the frosting is too thick or additional powdered sugar if too soft.

Decorating the Cupcakes

  • Decorate however you like! This frosting is very easy to work with. Once the cupcakes had completely cooled, we piped swirls of frosting using a disposable piping bag fitted with a large 2D star piping tip. We then added sprinkles to the top.

Notes

** Buttermilk Substitute: In a measuring cup add 2 Tablespoons white vinegar or lemon juice. Fill the cup with milk to the 1 ¼ mark, stir and let sit for 5 minutes. 
Storage:
Store the cupcakes in an airtight container, sealed bakery box, or under a cake dome in a cool place in your house. Room temperature is fine-- but in a hot kitchen, the frosting may become too soft. After 1-2 days, move to the refrigerator for freshness. For the best flavor and texture, move refrigerated cupcakes to the kitchen counter a couple of hours before serving, so that they have time to warm and soften.

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6 Comments

  2. I can't wait to try this. When I was young there was always marble cake. Sadly I don't see it offered much anymore.
    Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  3. I'm looking very forward to trying this recipe as I love a good marble cake or cupcake. I know this recipe is the same as your scratch marble cake, which I also need to make! I better get with the program!! :-)

    Reply

    1. Thanks Paula! Yes, almost the exact same as the layer cake version-- just with more chocolate batter this time! Let us know if you give either a try! It's always a good day for marble cake ;0)

      Reply