So I have come to the realization that I am totally a cupcake nerd! Not only do I love the taste of cupcakes, I really appreciate their beauty! And these cupcakes are beautiful! (You will notice this by the many pictures in this post)

I fully 100% admit that I haven’t had marble cake in many years. We had it so many times when I was a kid, I forgot that it is truly the best of both worlds!

To make a truly uniformed marble cake, it is important to make sure that your chocolate and vanilla cupcakes mesh well. The easiest way to make sure this happens, is to start with vanilla batter, and then take half of it and add in chocolate.

I also love mixing the vanilla and chocolate flavors in the frosting, so you get a true marble cupcake through and through! Swirling frosting on a cupcake is much easier than you think, it just takes a couple of piping bags! Take a look at my instructions here.

There are a couple different ways to get the different flavor batters into the liner. You could just spoon the batter into the liner, but I like trying to balance the two flavors, and layer them quite a bit. Lately I have fallen in love with OXO Good Grip Small Cookie Scoop, I have been using it to make mini cupcakes, and to make sure they are uniform in size. This tool is also pretty handy for marble cupcakes. I use it to spoon vanilla batter into each of the liners, followed by two scoops of chocolate batter, and then one more scoop of vanilla batter. Perfect!

The batter is nicely layered, now all it needs is a swirl. You can simply take a toothpick and swirl the two batters together.

These cupcakes bake to perfection, and the swirl really makes them gorgeous!

As they are cooling, you can begin making the frosting. The same concept applies to the frosting as it did to the batter. You don’t have to make two different frostings. You can just take half of your Vanilla Buttercream and add chocolate to it.

Marble Cupcakes

• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of oil (can use olive, canola, vegetable, or grapeseed)
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk & 1/4 cup buttermilk (separated)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Using a hand or stand mixer, combine the egg whites and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. While the mixer is still on, add in the oil. Add in vanilla, and mix.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Begin slowly adding the flour mixture to the wet mixture, alternating with the 1 cup of buttermilk. Begin and end with the flour mixture.
5. Put half of the batter into a separate bowl. Add in the cocoa powder and 1/4 cup buttermilk to the remaining batter. Mix until just combined.
6. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Using either a small cookie scoop or spoon, add one scoop of vanilla batter, followed by two scoops of chocolate batter, and topped with one scoop of vanilla batter to the liners. Use a toothpick to swirl the batters.
7. Bake for 19-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Yields 12 cupcakes

Marble Frosting

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, room temperature
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1/8 cup cocoa powder

1. Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy (1-2 minutes). It will get lighter in color.
2. Add in remaining ingredients (except cocoa), mix slowly at first. Once incorporated, mix on high for 3-4 minutes, or until the frosting is fluffy. You can add heavy cream or powdered sugar to get your desired consistency. If the frosting is too sweet, add pinch of salt.
3. Take half of the frosting, and place it in a separate bowl. Add cocoa powder to the remaining frosting.
4. Follow the instructions here to swirl the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Cupcakes adapted from WillCookforSmiles