Love chocolate and pumpkin together? Boy, do I have the perfect cake for you! My chocolate pumpkin marble cake swirls together both those flavors beautifully in a festive cake striped perfectly for your fall and winter baking!

TWO CAKES IN ONE

This cake echoes two flavors that I’ve used in lots of my bakes here on Baking with Blondie together: Chocolate Cake AND Pumpkin Cake!

I have a few delicious recipes that I’ll know you’ll love:

And now our Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake! I started with my pumpkin cake (recipe found HERE on my website), an then added in a classic chocolate swirl using my favorite cocoa. It’s super easy to make, and I know you’re just going to love it!

Ingredients for pumpkin chocolate marble cake

Most of our ingredients are things you’ll already have on hand, with maybe the exception of the yellow cake mix, pumpkin pie spice, and canned pumpkin.

Here’s what you’ll need to make my chocolate pumpkin marble cake:

  • 15oz can canned pumpkin. Not canned pumpkin pie or homemade pumpkin (there tends to be too much moisture and it messes with the recipe.
  • 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have any, you can easily make it by mixing together cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger (cloves, too, if you’d like).
  • 3 large eggs. Use large eggs, and they need to be room temperature.
  • 1/4 cup sour cream. Use full-fat, not the fat-free stuff, and always at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own with vinegar/lemon juice and whole milk.
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil – You may use melted butter here, too, but I think the oil makes a much more fluffy texture.
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla – Use your inexpensive vanilla here. Save the expensive stuff for your buttercream.
  • 1 15.25oz Box Yellow Cake Mix. I prefer the taste and texture of Duncan Hines brand, but anything similar should do.
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder. I love Brute cocoa (almost a red color, it’s so rich and tasty!).

How to Make Marbled Cake

You’re going to make the cake batter as if it’s my regular pumpkin cake mix. To make the chocolate-marble version we have here, you’ll split the cake batter in half, then add the cocoa to of of the halves. Alternate adding in the pumpkin and chocolate cake to the prepared cake pans. To get the signature swirl, use a toothpick or knife in a figure 8 pattern all around the cake batter, making sure to not swirl it too much! You want to see the different colors show through the swirls, still.

how to get the best BUTTERCREAM stripes

You’re going to need a cake scraper that’s designed for stripes. I love this set because it has a few options, and the scrapers make really clean stripes.

STEP 1: Crumb coat and freeze the cake.

STEP 2: Make sure your buttercream is smooth. The best way I’ve been able to do this is by using a wooden spoon to beat out the air bubbles before adding on the final layer of buttercream.

STEP 3: Add on a layer of buttercream around the entire cake, then use the cake scraper to create clean indents around the entire cake. CLEAN INDENTS is key – the more crisp and smooth they are, the better your stripes will look. So take your time, fill in any spots that need more buttercream to make clean lines, then put the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes at least. You want the buttercream to be firm/hard.

STEP 4: Pipe in the next color (the orange pumpkin spice buttercream in our case with this cake). Use a straight cake scraper (pressing more firmly than you normally would) and scrape around the entire cake until the stripes start to show through. It will look bad before it looks good, so trust the process and keep scraping.

That’s it! Stripes are tricky until you get them right. These steps should help you lots and get you on the right track whether it’s your first or fifth try. Have patience, they will come along!

TWO BUTTERCREAMS IN ONE Cake

I started off with my pumpkin spice buttercream and used the same trick I loved from my cake batter here. Just reserve some of the pumpkin spice buttercream, and then add in the cocoa to the rest of the batch. You’ll end up with more cocoa buttercream than pumpkin spice because you’ll need more – to stack and crumb coat the cake.

I love this kind of cocoa lots and just order it off Amazon when I run out.

That’s it! I can’t wait for you to try my new Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake! It’s perfect for fall baking and anytime you’re craving a super tasty easy cake.

As always, if you make one of my cakes, I’d love to see it! Make sure to tag me on Instagram @bakingwithblondie or #bakingwithblondie.

Happy Baking!

xo, Mandy

Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Cake with Chocolate & Pumpkin Spice Buttercream Stripes

A gorgeously thick pumpkin and chocolate swirled cake with striped chocolate and pumpkin spiced buttercream.
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Ingredients
 

Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Cake

  • 15oz can canned pumpkin, not canned pumpkin pie
  • 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream , room temperature
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk , room temperature
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 15.25oz Box Yellow Cake Mix, I prefer the taste and texture of Duncan Hines brand, but anything similar should do.
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Chocolate + Pumpkin Spice Buttercream

  • 2 cups (or 4 sticks) unsalted butter , left out at room temperature for 10 minutes
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream + more if needed to thin out buttercream
  • 7-8 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1-2 drops orange gel coloring

Instructions
 

For the Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, then prep three 6" cake rounds with a swipe of shortening and dust of flour. Set aside.
  • In one large bowl, hand-whisk together all the ingredients except for the cake mix and cocoa.
  • Sift in the yellow cake mix and stir until it's just combined (don't overmix!). Split the batter in half (so add half of the batter to another bowl), then gently stir in the cocoa into one of the bowls.
  • Alternate adding in the pumpkin cake batter and chocolate pumpkin cake batter into the prepared cake rounds, then swirl the batter with a knife to create the marbling affect in the cake.
  • Bake the cake rounds for 25-30 minutes until the centers have finished baking through. Flip the cake rounds out onto a wire rack to cool completely, then wrap them up in plastic wrap and chill until frozen or cold before assembly (frozen cakes are easier to stack and frost!).

Chocolate & Pumpkin Spice Striped Buttercream

  • In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it's light and fluffy.
  • Add in the salt, vanilla, pumpkin spice, and heavy cream and whip up again until combined.
  • Slowly add in the powdered sugar with the mixer on low speed and about 1/2 cup at a time. Add in more heavy cream if needed (about a Tablespoon at a time).
  • Reserve 2 cups of the pumpkin spice buttercream in a separate bowl and add in the orange gel coloring to tint the buttercream a soft orange. Add the buttercream to a piping bag with the end snipped off.
  • With the rest of the buttercream add in the cocoa and mix until it's fully incorporated.
  • Stack and crumb coat the cake using the cocoa buttercream (making sure you have enough left for the final stripe layers. Chill to set.
  • Add on the rest of the cocoa buttercream to the outside of the cake, then use a stripe cake scraper to make clean indents in the sides of the cake. The cleaner the stripe, the neater the stripes will be. Chill (freeze) about 10 minutes to make sure the buttercream is firm, then pipe in the orange pumpkin spice buttercream stripes. Using a flat cake scraper scrape pressing firmly) the stripes until the clean stripes start to show through from underneath. Add more buttercream where it's needed, and scrape again until the stripes are clean. Enjoy!