Neapolitan Marble Cake
This easy Neapolitan Marble Cake recipe is tender, moist and delicious! Made with one cake batter flavored with vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, this cake is stunning and delicious! It's topped with a simple strawberry icing.
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 296kcal
Equipment
- 1 Loaf pan
- Freeze dried strawberry powder
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour all purpose flour can be used as a substitute
- 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup whole milk room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream room temperature
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder preferably Dutch processed
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
- 3 tablespoons strawberry jam* optional, but recommended for strawberry flavor, see recipe notes
- red gel food coloring use a little to get the color you like
Strawberry Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¾ tablespoon freeze dried strawberry powder
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, line it with parchment paper leaving excess paper hanging over the sides along the length of the pan and butter the parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir or lightly whisk to combine the sour cream and milk. Set aside.
- Add the cocoa powder to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the hot water and stir with a spoon or spatula until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl using a hand held mixer), beat the butter and sugar 4-5 minutes, til light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time and mix until combined then add the vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Use a spatula to stir in the dry ingredients alternatively with the sour cream and milk mixture. Stir only until combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Add the freeze dried strawberry powder to a medium sized mixing bowl. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the bowl (a little more than 1 cup). Don't worry if the batters aren't divided exactly into thirds. Stir the strawberry powder into the batter til combined.
- Add another 1/3 of the vanilla batter to the bowl with the cocoa powder. Stir til combined. Leave the remaining 1/3 of the vanilla batter in the bowl.
- Spread the strawberry batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. For extra strawberry flavor, spread 3-4 tablespoons of strawberry jam over the strawberry batter. The strawberry jam is optional.
- Next, spread the chocolate batter on top. Top the chocolate batter with the vanilla batter. Use a spatula, back of a large spoon or an offset spatula to spread the batter.
- To marble the cake, run a butter knife or skewer to run swirls from side to side and top to bottom. Turn the pan and swirl the knife through the batter one more time. The cake pictured was only lightly marbled. Swirl more for more of a marbled look. Smooth top of cake with a spatula or offset spatula before baking.
- Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 50 to 58 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn out cake from pan and cool completely on the rack.
Strawberry Icing
- Stir ingredients together in a bowl. Pour over the room temperature cake.
Notes
Food coloring: Add a couple of drops of red gel food coloring (if desired) until desired color is achieved if you want a more vibrant red layer.
Sour cream and milk: Use buttermilk as a substitute for the sour cream and milk.
Avoid overmixing: Stir the dry ingredients and the cocoa powder and freeze dried strawberries into the cake til just combined. Overmixing can give the cake a tough texture.
Strawberry Jam: For extra strawberry flavor, spread 3-4 tablespoons of jam to the on top of the strawberry layer.
Topping options: Instead of icing, sprinkle the cooled cake with cocoa powder, freeze dried strawberry powder and/or powdered sugar!
Pan size: I recommend a 9x5 inch loaf pan. A standard 8.5x4.5 inch (1 pound) loaf pan should also work. Use a metal pan. I don't recommend using a glass pan.
Storage: Store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's marble cake.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 296kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 251mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 351IU | Vitamin C: 60mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 2mg