Pumpkin Marble Cake Recipe

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Pumpkin Marble Cake deliciously combines a dense, moist pumpkin cake with a rich decadent chocolate cake topped with the best chocolate frosting you've ever tasted!

I went out of town last week for a conference at BYU (my alma mater) in Provo, Utah.ย  It was a total blast. I learned a lot, and I loved taking a 4-day long stroll down memory lane with both old friends and new ones.

But……… I couldn’t believe how hard it was to be away from my daughter! I’ve left her several times before for blog-related travel, and while I always miss her– I’ve never been quite this homesick for her before.

She’s a pretty independent kid, but just in the past few weeks she’s become a little more attached to me than normal. And apparently, I’ve reciprocated. I think it’s just that we’ve finally got our little routine down now that’s school’s back in session, and things have been going so smoothly. She been sleeping well, eating the food I give her, and is a perfectly pleasant companion during the after-school hours that I usually spend photographing.

We’ve been having a pretty grand time, so I think it’s just hard to interrupt that. But I’m on a plane right now, flying home just as fast as I can. And I can’t wait to scoop her up into a big, embarrassing mommy hug and kiss her chubby, sticky face all over!

To make the flight go by a little faster, I thought I’d try to distract myself with a little dessert…

Pumpkin Marble Cake deliciously combines a dense, moist pumpkin cake with a rich decadent chocolate cake topped with the best chocolate frosting you've ever tasted!

This recipe idea actually came from the pumpkin marble cupcakes I made a few weeks ago (recipe coming tomorrow!). I used a cheater cake mix recipe to make those; and while they were very good, I couldn’t help but think– wouldn’t these be delicious in cake form made from scratch?!

The pumpkin cake portion is totally from scratch, and really, really lovely. It’s a beautiful orange and a perfect balance of spice and sweet. I loved it.

The chocolate portion actually does still include a cake mix– it’s my go-to for all chocolate cakes! Simply because I haven’t found a from-scratch recipe for chocolate cake that tastes as good as this doctored-up cake mix. So until I do, I’ll stick with my devils food cake mix thankyouverymuch. As always, it’s perfectly moist, decadent, and unfailingly reliable. And it pairs so well with the pumpkin!

I frosted this cake with my new favorite chocolate frosting that I posted last week. I won’t be posting the recipe for that one again in this post, so simply click over here for that recipe. (It’s seriously life-changing. You’re going to lovvvvvvvvve it.)

Pumpkin Marble Cake deliciously combines a dense, moist pumpkin cake with a rich decadent chocolate cake topped with the best chocolate frosting you've ever tasted!

Pumpkin Marble Cake deliciously combines a dense, moist pumpkin cake with a rich decadent chocolate cake topped with the best chocolate frosting you've ever tasted!

Pumpkin Marble Cake

Yield: 16 slices

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Cake Batter:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup milk

For the Chocolate Cake Batter:

  • 1 box devilโ€™s food cake mix
  • 3 oz pkg instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
  • pinch of salt

Chocolate Frosting:

Instructions

Prep:

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare two* 10-inch round cake pans by lining them with foil and lightly spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

Make the pumpkin cake batter:

  1. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition. Mix in the pumpkin puree.
  2. Add to the bowl: flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and milk. Mix until batter forms.
  3. Divide the batter between the two* baking pans.

Make the chocolate cake batter:

  1. Mix together all of the ingredients until smooth batter forms. Divide the batter between the two baking pans.

Marble and bake:

  1. Use a knife to swirl the two batters together, creating a marble effect.
  2. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  3. Let cool completely.

Assemble and frost:

  1. Make this chocolate frosting
  2. Level the cakes using a cake wire or a long knife.
  3. Stack the layers on serving plate, frosting in between each one. Frost the outside of the cake. Sprinkle chocolate shavings, sprinkles, or chocolate chips on top if desired.
  4. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

*In retrospect, I think I would have rather baked three cake rounds instead of two-- for time's sake (faster baking time), and I think they would have baked more level. But that's just a suggestion.

Baking two cakes worked out just fine; I just had to bake them a little longer than I normally would, and I had to do some leveling before stacking the layers. No big deal.

Have you made a Something Swanky recipe? Post it on Instagram and tag me @somethingswanky or use the hashtag #somethingswankyrecipes. Iโ€™d love to re-post!

 

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11 thoughts on “Pumpkin Marble Cake Recipe”

  1. A pumpkin marble cake is a MUCH better idea than regular marble cake. The pumpkin and chocolate are such a happy combo!
    It’s great that your daughter is fun to be with! It’s those pre-teen/teen years that can be a real you-know-what. ๐Ÿ™‚

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