Gingerbread Marble Cake

A tender, brown butter marble cake with warm gingerbread swirls — perfect for the holidays or any cosy afternoon tea.

Gingerbread Marble Cake

serves: 8

time: 2hrs

Ingredients

Base Cake Batter

• 220g (1 cup) salted butter

• 1 ¼ cups caster sugar

• 3 eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• ½ cup milk

• 1 tsp white miso paste (optional, but highly recommended)

• 220g plain flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp fine salt (if you’re not using white miso paste)
  

Gingerbread Batter Add-Ins

• 2 tbsp brown sugar (make sure there’s no lumps)

• ¼ cup molasses

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 ½ tsp ground ginger

• ¼ tsp ground cloves

Method

1. Brown the butter

Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and let it melt without stirring too much. It will bubble vigorously at first, then the bubbles will slow and a foam will form on the surface.

Gently swirl the pan - once you see golden brown milk solids forming on the base and smell a toasty, nutty aroma, remove it from the heat.

Transfer the browned butter to a large heatproof mixing bowl. Leave it at room temperature until it reaches a soft-serve consistency — firm enough to hold shape when you run a spatula through it. This can take up to 1–1.5 hours depending on your kitchen temperature.

Tip: To speed this up, cool it on the bench for 20–30 minutes, then place it in the fridge, checking and stirring every 20 minutes. Avoid letting it solidify completely.

2. Prep the miso milk (if using miso. skip this step if you just want to use milk)

In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and miso paste until completely smooth and lump-free.

3. Start the batter

Preheat your oven to 170°C fan bake. Line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.

Add the caster sugar and vanilla to the bowl of browned butter. Beat with an electric hand mixer for about 5 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the sides and beat for a further minute.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Add the dry ingredients

Sift in the flour and baking powder. Add the pinch of salt (if you aren’t using miso paste). Gently fold until just combined - do not overmix.

Pour in the miso milk and fold again until the batter is smooth.

5. Create the two batters

Scoop out half of the batter into a medium bowl - this is your vanilla batter.

To the remaining half in the original bowl, sift the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground cloves. Add in the molasses. Fold until smooth to create the gingerbread batter.

6. Marble and bake

Spoon alternating dollops of vanilla and gingerbread batter into the prepared cake tin.
Use a knife or skewer to gently swirl the two batters together to create a marble effect — just a few swirls is enough.

Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

7. Cool and serve

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10–15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve with:

• spiced caramel sauce

• mascarpone cream icing

• classic cream cheese icing
  
  

Store in an airtight container. Enjoy! x