Easy Red Velvet Marble Loaf Cake
cakes, red velvet
This decadent Red Velvet Marble loaf Cake is a delicious cake with swirls of chocolatey red velvet with a springy soft center. Slather it with a vanilla cream cheese frosting or dust it with powdered sugar. I’m a sucker for red velvet, and have a hard time passing it up whether it’s cake or cupcakes. So as someone who adores it, this loaf cake had to happen. It’s inspired by Starbucks red velvet loaf cake. Delicious vanilla cake swirled with classic red velvet cake. Starbucks tops there’s with white chocolate icing but I opted for a creamy vanilla cream cheese icing or frosting - the kind I love with all my red velvet treats. This cake, is a bit different than the normal red velvet layer cake. It’s a red velvet cake meets a pound cake, and the resulting marble cake is rich and delicious! On first bite make sure to get the vanilla, red velvet, and icing all in one to enjoy all the flavours together. It is rich without being too sweet. Moist, tender, and rich, every bite is dense and decadent and delicious. This Vanilla and Chocolate Red Velvet Marble Loaf Cake is always perfect for afternoon tea, breakfast or dessert.
Why you are going to love this loaf cake:
- It’s very simple to make
- No need to wait for the butter to soften because this cake is made with vegetable oil or olive oil
- No need to use pastry flour or a combination of flours - all purpose flour is all you need
- Marble cakes are always fun to create
- The cake is perfect for snack, breakfast or dessert
- It’s not too sweet and the crumb although dense and tight is nice and tender.
I want to call this a marble pound cake but technically pound cakes are made with butter and this cake isn’t. Pound cake is simple just like this cake. It’s Flavored with a lot of vanilla, with a tight and dense crumb. This oil based red velvet marble pound cake replaces butter with olive oil or any neutral vegetable oil. Cakes made with oil often present as moister than their butter-based counterparts. One of the other advantages of using oil instead of butter is that you don’t have to wait for it to come to room temperature. To me, a pound cake is a simple cake it is a cake flavoured with a lot of vanilla, it is a cake with a tight crumb, it is a cake for breakfast or a late morning snack, but it is also dessert after a dinner party. In other words, it is a flexible cake, an anytime cake – and whether it has butter or olive oil matters little – and this is that cake but better because it’s also marbled and with chocolate red velvet swirls.
What is marble cake?
A marble cake is a cake that has a light and a dark batter swirled together. Chocolate and vanilla are the most common pairing, but this cake swirls chocolate red velvet and vanilla cake batters together. How to make a marble cake batter The marble effect is created by combining a Vanilla batter and Chocolate red velvet Cake Batter into one pan. And it is always so fun to discover the marbled result once you get to slice the cake. The marbling technique for making the swirls is easy, and it gives you a great effect without the risk of blending the batters together.
To make this cake, you will need: very simple and basic pantry ingredients. (Scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):
- Eggs - make sure they are at room temperature - and separated. separating eggs with the whites whipped really helps add volume and lightness to this cake. I know it’s an extra step and extra bowl but it’s an easy one and the bowl can be used when separating the batters
- Sugar - I used granulated sugar
- Vanilla Extract - or Essence
- Flour: All Purpose / Plain - no need for any special blend or pasty flour kits regular all purpose
- Baking Powder, & Salt
- Oil - I use a neural vegetable oil or olive oil - for a richer flavour. Just another reason I love this cake - no need to wait for the butter to soften + cakes made with oil often present as moister than their butter-based counterparts.
- Milk - I recommend using 2% or whole milk. The fat helps to make the cake moist.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder - I suggest using unsweetened cocoa powder rather than Dutch-processed because it lets more of the red color come through on the swirl.
- Red food color - I like to use gel over liquid or powder because it’s less messy to use but feel free to use either. A natural one is always best if possible, but sometimes the natural ones do not produce as an intense red colour (if you don’t add the red food colouring the cake is still lovely and will taste the Same)
- Optional: to boost the chocolate flavour, you can also add some chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate in the chocolate batter.
How to make the simple red velvet marble cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prep your pan
- Whisk flour with Baking powder and salt
- Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks
- Beat oil, egg yolks sugar, and vanilla
- Mix in Dry Ingredient and milk to yolk mixture
- Fold in the egg whites - don’t over mix
- Remove ⅔ - 1 cup of the batter, fold in cocoa powder, sugar and red food colouring
- Alternate batters in baking pan
- Swirl and Bake!
Tips for making this Red Velvet loaf cake
- Check “doneness” with about 5 minutes to bake by inserting a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean it’s done and can be removed, but if there is wet batter on the toothpick add 5 to 7 minutes to the baking time. Repeat this step until the toothpick comes out clean. Try not to over bake and definitely tent with foil if top of cake starts to brown too quickly.
- To create the “marble” effect on the cake you can simply layer the batter in the bundt cake pan or use a knife to very gently swirl the layers together and create a thicker marble look. Just be careful to not over-swirl the batters together.
- If adding the vanilla cream cheese frosting wait until the cake has cooled completely before frosting
If you loved this recipe you will love these:
Recipe
Ingredients
For the vanilla cake batter
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs separated, room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil (I like to use olive oil but any vegetable oil will work)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
- ⅓ cup milk, room temperature
For the chocolate red velvet batter
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon red gel food colouring (or liquid)
For the cream cheese frosting (optional)
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
- In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside.
- Place egg whites in a medium mixing bowl and beat with an electric mix until whites form stiff peaks. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add the egg yolks, oil, sugar & vanilla. Beat on high speed until thick, approx 1 min.
- Switch to low and slowly mix in milk then add flour mixture a little at a time until combined
- Add whites to the batter and using a spatula fold them in gently until combined
- Scoop out approx ⅔ cup of the batter into the empty egg white bowl. Mix in the cocoa powder, sugar and the red food colouring gel until combined
- Alternate ⅓ cup scoops of vanilla and red velvet batter into the center of prepared loaf pan until all batter is added. Tap loaf pan onto the counter a few times to minimize air bubbles, then gently swirl with a butter knife or toothpick to marble the loaf.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent with foil as needed if loaf is browning too quickly. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely
- For the frosting: When ready to serve, beat cream cheese with confectioners’ sugar and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Spread with a spatula over top of cake. Slice and serve.
Recipe Notes
- Storage and freezing: You can store this cake in an airtight container for up to 4 days at room temperature without the frosting (frosted it should be refrigerated because of the cream cheese) – if you would like to store it longer, you can freeze it, well wrapped, for up to 2 months without the frosting)
- Do I need to add the food colouring? Yes if you want red velvet swirls - but if you don’t care for those and just want chocolatey ones then feel free to leave out the food colouring.
- Do I have to make this cake with the frosting? No this cake is delicious with or without the frosting. You could serve it as is or with a dusting of powdered sugar or even some chocolate ganache drizzles.
