I love, love, love pumpkin.
It’s also very comforting to slice into a cake and seeing those gorgeous swirls inside.
This chocolate pumpkin marble cake feels like autumn wrapped in chocolate, the kind of treat you bake when you want your whole kitchen to smell warm and cozy without doing anything extra.
It’s soft, moist, deeply chocolatey, lightly spiced, and honestly one of those cakes that people think took hours when it actually didn’t.
I love serving this with coffee when my boardgame friends come over, but it’s also perfect as a simple dessert you can make on a quiet afternoon when you’re craving something beautiful and indulgent.
I’m adding variations and substitutes at the bottom of the recipe.
Tips to Make It Even More Delicious
• Use a high-quality cocoa powder like this one for a deeper chocolate flavor.
• A nonstick loaf pan like this one helps the cake bake evenly and release cleanly.
• Don’t overswirl — fewer swirls = prettier marbling.
• If your pumpkin purée is watery, blot it with a paper towel for 1–2 minutes to avoid a dense cake.
Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Cake
Course: DessertDifficulty: Easy10-12
slices15
minutes55
minutesIngredients
- Pumpkin Batter
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup pumpkin purée
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
¼ cup melted butter or neutral oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
- Chocolate Batter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup melted butter or neutral oil
¼ cup milk (or dairy-free milk)
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
- Optional Chocolate Glaze
½ cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter or cream
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper, then mix the pumpkin batter by whisking together the pumpkin purée, sugar, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla until smooth before stirring in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until just combined.
- Make the chocolate batter by whisking together the sugar, egg, melted butter, and milk in one bowl, then add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring until everything forms a smooth chocolate mixture.
- Assemble the marble loaf by alternating scoops of pumpkin and chocolate batter into the pan, adding a generous amount of each color so you’ll get nice layers, then use a butter knife to gently swirl the top a few times without overmixing.
- Bake for 55–60 minutes until the top springs back lightly when pressed and a toothpick comes out clean, then cool completely before adding the optional chocolate glaze, which you make by melting chocolate chips with butter or cream and pouring it over the cooled loaf.
Notes
- This goes so beautifully with a glass of hot black coffee.
Variations and Substitutes
- Swap chocolate glaze for a simple dusting of powdered sugar.
- Make it dairy-free by using oil instead of butter and plant milk instead of regular milk.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts into either batter for extra texture.
- Use pumpkin spice instead of individual spices if that’s what you have.
- Turn this into muffins by dividing the batter into a lined muffin tin and baking for 18–22 minutes.
Conclusion
This chocolate pumpkin marble cake is the kind of recipe you’ll want to bake every fall, it’s comforting, pretty, and surprisingly simple.
Whether you serve it warm with coffee, wrap it for gifting, or enjoy it slice by slice through the week, it’s a loaf that never disappoints. I hope you love it as much as I do.
