• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
I Heart Eating
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
      • Work with Me
    • Rules and Disclosures
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
  • Press
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Desserts » Red White & Blue Marble Cake

    Red White & Blue Marble Cake

    Published: Jun 24, 2020 · Modified: Apr 19, 2022 by Kate · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Easy red, white, and blue marble bundt cake recipe! This moist vanilla bundt cake makes a perfect 4th of July dessert! 

    Slices of red, white, and blue marble cake on a cake platter

    I've been making homemade marble cake for years. I've tried lots of ways to get the swirls just right, but several years ago I started making swirl cakes with this technique, and I've never looked back!

    This red, white, and blue marble cake looks like it's much more complicated than it is. It's actually just a sweet vanilla cake batter that's dyed and then layered. Easy peasy!

    And you end up with a vanilla bundt cake that reminds me of a cross between a butter layer cake and a pound cake. It's great served as-is, dusted with powdered sugar, or with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

    How to make a red, white, and blue marble cake

    Creamed butter and sugar in a silver bowl

    Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Set aside. Be sure to grease the pan well to keep the cake from sticking.

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with an electric mixer), beat together butter and sugar until well-combined.

    Add eggs and egg whites one at time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla until combined.

    Vanilla cake batter in a silver mixing bowl

    Mix in buttermilk until well-combined.

    Add cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in on low just until incorporated.

    Red, white, and blue cake batters

    For the red swirl, scoop out 1 ½ cups of the batter and place it into a separate bowl. For the blue swirl, scoop out an additional 1 ½ cups of batter and place it into a third bowl.

    Mix in the red food coloring into plain batter that you scooped out. Mix the blue food coloring into the other bowl of plain batter that you scooped out

    Red and white cake batters in a bundt pan

    Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, drop one scoop of plain batter into prepared bundt pan. Using a separate scoop, drop ¼ cup of red batter on top of plain batter.

    Flag marble cake batter in a bundt pan

    Using a third scoop, drop ¼ cup of blue batter on top of the red batter. Continue to alternate between plain and colored batters until all three batters are gone.

    Give the pan a couple of taps to level out the batter, if necessary. Do not stir.

    Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

    Knife cutting a slice of red, white, and blue marble cake

    Tips

    • Greasing the pan: I use a baking spray with flour in it to coat the bundt pan. You can also grease and flour the pan. Either way, generously grease the pan to keep the cake from sticking.
    • Cake flour: Cake flour helps to make this cake tender. To make a cake flour substitute, you can use this recipe.
    • Buttermilk: You can use regular or low-fat buttermilk in this recipe. If you would like to make a substitute, you can use this recipe.
    • Food coloring: I used a 0.25 ounce bottle of liquid red food coloring and half of a 0.25 ounce bottle of blue food coloring. Depending on the type of food coloring you use, you may find that you need to use more or less to achieve your desired colors.
    • If you’d like to make mini bundt cakes instead of a regular bundt cake, this cake will make 12 1-cup bundt cakes. Reduce the baking time to about 20-25 minutes.

    More bundt cake recipes!

    • Marble Bundt Cake
    • Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake
    • Red Velvet Marble Cake Recipe
    • Pumpkin Marble Cake

    If you’ve tried this red, white, and blue marble cake recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who've made my recipes!

    You can subscribe to receive my latest recipe newsletters or follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for even more delicious food.

    Slices of red, white, and blue marble cake on a cake platter

    Red, White, and Blue Marble Cake

    Moist vanilla bundt cake with red, white, and blue swirls throughout. Check out the step-by-step photos and tips above the recipe for more information!
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 50 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings: 16 servings
    Calories: 331kcal
    Author: Kate @ I Heart Eating

    Equipment

    • Bundt Pan

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup butter at room temperature
    • 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 2 large eggs at room temperature
    • 4 large egg whites at room temperature
    • 1 cup buttermilk1 at room temperature
    • 3 cups cake flour2
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • Red food coloring3
    • Blue food coloring
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Set aside.
    • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with an electric mixer), beat together butter and sugar until well-combined.
    • Add eggs and egg whites one at time, mixing well after each addition.
    • Stir in vanilla until combined.
    • Mix in buttermilk until well-combined.
    • Add cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
    • Stir in on low just until incorporated.
    • For the red swirl, scoop out 1 ½ cups of the batter and place it into a separate bowl.
    • For the blue swirl, scoop out an additional 1 ½ cups of batter and place it into a third bowl.
    • Mix in the red food coloring into plain batter that you scooped out.
    • Mix the blue food coloring into the other bowl of plain batter that you scooped out.
    • Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, drop one scoop of plain batter into prepared bundt pan.
    • Using a separate scoop, drop ¼ cup of red batter on top of plain batter.
    • Using a third scoop, drop ¼ cup of blue batter on top of the red batter.
    • Continue to alternate between plain and colored batters until all three batters are gone.
    • Give the pan a couple of taps to level out the batter, if necessary. Do not stir.
    • Bake for 50-70 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
    • Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
    • Invert the cake onto wire rack, and cool completely.

    Notes

    1. Regular or low-fat ok. You can make your own buttermilk substitute with this recipe.
    2. It's best to use cake flour. However, you can make your own cake flour substitute with this recipe.
    3. I used a 0.25 ounce bottle of liquid red food coloring and half of a 0.25 ounce bottle of blue food coloring. Depending on the type of food coloring you use, you may find that you need to use more or less to achieve your desired colors. 
    4. Nutrition values are estimates.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1serving | Calories: 331kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 211mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 409IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe? Rate it below. Mention @i_heart_eating on Instagram & tag #ihearteating!
    « Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    Homemade Funnel Cake »
    8.9K shares
    • Facebook
    • Email

    About Kate

    Kate got her first cookbook when she was five years old, and she hasn't stopped cooking since then! Her delicious recipes have been featured on Food Network, MSN, Better Homes & Gardens, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and more. When she's not cooking or baking, she can be found on her mini farm with her husband and her five kids.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rose

      September 05, 2021 at 9:43 pm

      5 stars
      Just made this and it was delicious! The cake was so moist, will definitely make it again!

      Reply
      • Kate

        September 06, 2021 at 12:17 pm

        Thank you so much!!

        Reply
    2. Sheila

      May 27, 2021 at 8:51 pm

      5 stars
      My kids love this cake. They think it’s the prettiest cake they’ve helped make.

      Reply
    3. Sarah

      July 01, 2020 at 9:36 am

      5 stars
      Just made a test cake for our July 4th get-together and the cake came out perfect. It is moist, delicious and has a great red, white and blue marbling. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Kate

        July 03, 2020 at 11:27 am

        Thank you for commenting! I'm so glad that it turned out well!

        Reply
        • Lisa

          June 15, 2021 at 6:15 pm

          Hi Kate, do you have a recommendation for a different flavor extract for this recipe? Thank you.

          Reply
          • Kate

            June 15, 2021 at 8:26 pm

            Hi! The cake is a butter cake, so you could use just about any flavor of extract with it. Almond extract is nice. You could also flavor an individual batter. For example, you could use a strawberry flavor with the red batter.

    4. Jen

      July 01, 2020 at 7:04 am

      Oh no, Kate! I hope it wasn’t this virus! Whatever it was, I hope you’re feeling better. We missed you and your delicious recipes! Your posts are like a ray of sunshine that we can all use right now. This cake looks beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
      • Kate

        July 03, 2020 at 11:27 am

        Thank you so much!! No, I happened to have something else happen. I really appreciate your kind words!! I can't tell you how much that means to hear!!

        Reply
    5. Barbara

      June 26, 2020 at 7:43 am

      So glad to see you posting again. Was worried about you and your family during these crazy times.

      Reply
      • Kate

        June 30, 2020 at 8:38 am

        Thank you so much!! I was sick for about two months, and I'm grateful to be able to be posting again! =)

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Rate this recipe:




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    I’m Kate Dean- mom to five young kids, recipe developer, and photographer. Here at I Heart Eating®, I share my family’s favorite tried-and-true recipes.

    More about me →

    Summer Favorites

    • Zucchini Bread
    • Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad
    • Pasta Salad Recipe
    • Homemade Funnel Cake
    • Golden Graham S'mores
    • Broccoli Salad

    Popular Posts

    • Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
    • Brownie Cookie Recipe
    • Whipped Buttercream Frosting without Powdered Sugar
    • Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Muffins

    Subscribe via email

    to stay in the loop on new posts!

    Footer

    As Featured In

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Legal
    • Rules and Disclosures

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work with Me
    • Press

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 I Heart Eating

    8.9K shares