If there is one type of cake that I loved during my childhood it was definitely a marble cake. This marble cake has a pound cake texture, it's rich, perfectly moist, chocolatey, and full of vanilla flavor.
It took many attempts before getting the texture and flavor right but it was worth it in the end. This cake has absolutely no grittiness, is perfectly moist, easily sliceable, and it tastes delicious. You will never believe it's gluten-free and refined sugar-free! Plus it requires no bananas or applesauce! Ready to bake?
The type of flours and ratios was definitely the hardest part to tweak. In the end, I went with almond flour combined with buckwheat flour, rice flour, and a bit of tapioca starch. The almond flour gives it a soft texture while the buckwheat and rice flour help make the cake denser and easily sliceable. Tapioca starch binds everything together. I would not recommend substituting this mix with a store-bought gluten-free mix as the texture would be very different.
I found out that using mainly coconut sugar as a sweetener was overpowering and was hiding the vanilla flavor, as well as making the cake a lot darker. So, to sweeten the cake I went with maple syrup and just a couple of tablespoons of coconut sugar.
Next, we have the other wet ingredients: oil, almond milk, and yogurt! The addition of yogurt brings tenderness as well as moisture, plus it gives it a very subtle tanginess.
Once your batter is ready, divide it into two bowls. Add vanilla extract to one of them, and melted chocolate to the other. The chocolate batter is super chocolatey thanks to the addition of melted dark chocolate. I first tried by using cocoa powder but the flavor was not as rich and deep, so go with dark chocolate!
While this cake may look dense, it isn't dry or crumbly! It has hints of vanilla with a rich chocolate marble filling. I love having this cake with coconut or almond yogurt on the side. It can also be served with vanilla custard.
If you are looking for more cake recipes, check out Vegan Cream Cheese Banana Bread or this Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Vegan Gluten-Free Marble Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup rice flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoon coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup vegan yogurt
- ½ cup almond milk
- ½ cup neutral oil or melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup and 2 tbsp 200g dark chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoon almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two mini 5.75x3-inch loaf pans with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, buckwheat flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, coconut sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add the maple syrup, vegan yogurt, almond milk, and oil. Mix until well combined.
- Transfer about half of the batter to another mixing bowl. Melt the dark chocolate chips over a double boiler. Once melted, add it to one of the bowls with 2 tablespoon of almond milk and mix until combined.
- In the other bowl, stir in the vanilla extract and mix until combined. You should now have a chocolate batter and vanilla one.
- Pour ⅓ of the vanilla batter into the mini loaf pans. Next, pour half of the chocolate batter on top. Repeat with the vanilla batter and the chocolate one. Finally, pour the rest of the vanilla batter on top.
- Bake for about 35 minutes if using two small pans, or about 45-50 minutes if baking in a larger pan.
- Let cool completely before removing from the pans.
- Enjoy for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert with vanilla custard or yogurt!
Would this be possible to do not free? Could you sub the almond flour out?
I'm afraid it would completely change the texture and flavor of this cake.
Is there a sub for yogurt ? Its hard to fund vegan yogurts at my place.
You might want to try coconut cream.
Thank you for the recipe! Do you think brown rice flour could work instead of white rice flour? Excited to try this out!
You're welcome Meera! I would not recommend it, it might work but the texture might be a bit more gritty.
Made this for my wife's birthday. Absolutely delicious! So glad to have found your blog and this recipe. The vegan yogurt is a really awesome touch. We are a plant-based vegan family, always looking for amazing additions.
Thanks so much for your great feedback Mala!
The cake looks scrumptious. Can you suggest a substitute for buckwheat flour? Thanks
Thanks Richa! You could try sorghum or maybe quinoa flour, but I think you will have to adjust the amount of liquid as it might absorb more or less moisture.