A Melt in Your Mouth, Silky Soft and Velvety Loaf Cake with Beautiful Swirls of Pumpkin and Chocolate. Blanketed with an Irresistible Zesty, Fresh Orange Glaze. One of my favorite cakes to date!

This chocolate and pumpkin marbled cake will undoubtedly leave you in a euphoric state of mind. Its crumb is insanely moist. So moist as you grab a slice, it simply crumbles within your hand. It will have your eyes roll back and say, “Oh YES!” And I say this confidently because I shared this exact cake with everyone at my day job and they ALL fell in love!

There were times that the chocolate portion of the cake, felt extremely silky smooth and velvety, just melting away in the mouth. With the pumpkin added to the mix, it created a new dimension of softness and flavor. In many cases the cake crumbled where the two flavors met but this small detail is almost unnoteworthy because its rich flavor is what matters here the most and THIS cake has it!

To top it off, a thin layer of orange glaze using fresh orange juice and zest, blankets the top of the loaf further adding a new element to the cake. This glaze is quite addicting! Unlike traditional frostings or glazes where it could be too thick and want to scrape off, not this one. Instead, you’ll find yourself looking for more glaze to couple with every bite! It adds the perfect burst of freshness and pop of autumnal color.

Rather than adding regular milk- or semi-sweet chocolate, I opted for dark chocolate [chips] and Dutch process cocoa to give an intense chocolaty note and color contrast to the pumpkin swirl. If you do not have dark chocolate or Dutch cocoa, you can instead use any chocolate chips and regular cocoa powder.

I feel these photos do not do this cake justice. Take my word for it, this cake is absolutely AMAZING! In general, incorporating pumpkin to almost any recipe is a wonderful ingredient giving a considerable amount of moisture and forgiveness in case you overbake, just a little. Much like how I like to add yogurt or sour cream to cakes, pumpkin provides an almost creamy-like crumb hence its velvety soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Without a doubt, this small loaf cake beats any cake I’ve made this year and can’t wait for you to try it too! Let me know your thoughts in the comments sections.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Consider rating and commenting below. I love to see your feedback and help answer any questions you may have. And don’t forget to check below for related recipes.
Print
Pumpkin and Chocolate Marble Cake with Orange Glaze
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf cake 1x
Description
A Melt in Your Mouth, Silky Soft and Velvety Loaf Cake with Beautiful Swirls of Pumpkin and Chocolate. Blanketed with an Irresistible Zesty, Fresh Orange Glaze.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (4 grams) pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (245 grams) pumpkin puree
- 3 oz (85 grams) dark chocolate, melted
- 2 tablespoons (12 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups (135 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Coat a 9×5-inch or 8×4-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until just combined. Whisk in butter, buttermilk and vanilla. Fold in pumpkin puree.
- Add pumpkin-mixture to the flour-mixture. Whisk until just combined ensuring no dry flour pockets remain.
- Divide batter in half. Add melted chocolate and cocoa powder to half the batter; set aside. Alternately pour batter into prepared pan. Using a knife, cut through batter and swirl.
- Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden skewer inserted in center of loaf cake comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs. Allow cake to cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing onto a wire rack for further cooling to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) orange juice until smooth. If too dry, add another tablespoon (15 ml) of juice. Poor glaze over the top of the cooled cake and garnish with orange zest. Slice and ENJOY!
Notes
Regular cocoa powder can be substituted for Dutch process cocoa powder.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate pumpkin cake, marbled cake, swirl, loaf cake
The recipe was adapted from p. 132 from BHG November 2014 edition.
This is the best marble cake!! Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
I have to give this a try! Loving the orange/pumpkin/chocolate flavor combinations!
★★★★★
Looks so delicious and moist!
★★★★★
This pumpkin and chocolate marble cake with orange glaze looks soooo mouthwatering! I’m drooling right now.
★★★★★
I’ll be making this as early as tomorrow- it looks amazing and I cannot wait to taste it.
★★★★★
Pumpkin and chocolate work so well together, and we love the orange glaze.
★★★★★
What an irresistible combination of flavors!
★★★★★
This sounds and looks amazing and I am jealous of your glaze…LOL perfect pour and drip!
★★★★★
Chocolate, pumpkin, and orange are a great combo. Surely, Xmas is here…
★★★★★
Cake is super, but the winning component for me is the orange glaze! Wow so zesty, fabulous!
★★★★★