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Oma's Authentic German Marble Cake (Marmorkuchen) 

Oma Gerhild

by: Gerhild Fulson  / Oma Gerhild shares German recipes rooted in family tradition.

Recipe updated on October 31, 2025

German Marble cakeThis German Marble cake is just what my Hubby always asks for. Easy to make and so delicious!

This authentic marble cake recipe, aka marmorkuchen, has been in our family for years. It's actually one of the very first German cake recipes I made when I was married.

Since then, it's one my hubby asks for when I ask what he'd like me to make. Our boys 'loved' the chocolate part. Because of that, I would often make two-thirds of the cake chocolate by doubling the chocolate quantity.

This became my best cake recipe for a traditional German "pound" cake, either as a marble or completely chocolate for my boys (see below). It's easy to make and ALWAYS turns out!

German Marble cakeHere are some steps to show you how simple this cake is to make just like Oma!

I usually don't 'marble' it too much with the knife. Our family loves having big areas of chocolate separate from the vanilla parts. You choose how much you want to marble it.

Substitute Cocoa for Chocolate ...

Above is the original marble cake with a texture similar to that of a pound cake. You, too, can experiment with how much chocolate you want.

I frequently used to substitute cocoa for the chocolate squares. When doing so, for every ounce of chocolate replace it with 3 tablespoons cocoa and 1 tablespoons butter. For ⅓ amount of chocolate batter, that means 9 tablespoons cocoa and 3 tablespoons butter. If you use the cocoa, just add it to the remaining batter instead of the melted chocolate. You may need to add a bit of liquid (a bit of brewed coffee works great) to get the batter the same consistency of the vanilla one.

Therefore, to make the whole cake chocolate, I'd add 18 tablespoons cocoa and 9 tablespoons butter. Yummy!

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Oma Says:

There were times when the boys were young, that they also asked for a pure chocolate marble cake - that meant, only chocolate! So I asked if that meant they wanted a chocolate cake.

"No," they'd respond. They wanted a "chocolate marble cake with only chocolate!"

I now understand what they really wanted. Not a chocolate cake "texture" but a "pound cake texture." 

German marble cake!This German Marble cake is just what my Hubby always asks for. Easy to make and so delicious!
MORE Baking Just Like Oma cookbook now available
MORE Baking Just Like Oma cookbook now available

German Marble Cake Recipe – Oma's Marmorkuchen 

This favorite marble cake recipe, aka Marmorkuchen, has been in our family for years. Our boys 'loved' the chocolate part. Because of that, I would often make two-thirds of the cake chocolate by doubling the chocolate quantity.

Prep Time:

20 minutes

Bake Time:

1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time:

1 hour 25 minutes

Servings:

12 - 14 servings

Ingredients:

  • 3 oz (85 g) semisweet chocolate
  • 1¼ cups (300 ml) milk, divided
  • ¾ cup (171 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1¼ cups (250 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) almond extract (optional rum or vanilla extract)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2½ cups (325 g) all-purpose flour
  • 2½ tsp (10 g) baking powder
  • ¾ tsp (5 g) salt

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
  2. Combine the chocolate and ¼ cup milk in a small saucepan. Over low heat, stir until chocolate melts. Let cool.
  3. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy in a large mixing bowl. Add the almond extract and eggs, beating until well mixed.
  4. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture alternately with the remaining milk. Pour ⅔ of the batter into the Bundt pan.
  5. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the remaining batter. Mix well. Spoon the chocolate batter over the plain batter in the pan. Swirl a knife through both batters to marble. Smooth the top.
  6. Bake 60 to 65 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool in the pan on a wire rack about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and continue to cool on a wire rack.
  8. To serve, place the cooled cake on a serving plate and dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with chocolate glaze (see notes/hints below).

Notes/Hints:

  • Use rum or vanilla instead of almond extract
  • Drizzle with chocolate glaze: Put ½ cup of chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter, and 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) corn syrup into a bowl. Microwave for about a minute, until the
    chocolate can be stirred smooth.
  • If you love the chocolate part, I love this vegan chocolate cake that so reminds me of this marble cake's chocolate part. 

*  *  *  *  *

Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

Recipe updated: October 31, 2025

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