Marbled Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Black Cocoa

Name: Marbled Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Black Cocoa
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon espresso powder; ⅔ cup (55 grams) black cocoa powder, sifted; ⅔ cup (160 grams) very hot, nearly boiling water; ⅓ cup (80 grams) buttermilk, room temperature; ½ teaspoon distilled white vinegar; 2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; 1 ⅔ cups (340 grams) granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon OR pumpkin pie spice; 1 teaspoon fine salt; 3 large eggs, room temperature; 1 cup (200 grams) neutral oil, such as canola or vegetable; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 cup (230 grams) pumpkin puree; 2 tablespoons water, room temperature; Optional: ¾ cup (120 grams) chocolate chips; ¾ cup (90 grams) powdered sugar, sifted; 1 tablespoon milk; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; Pinch of salt

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Ideal for fall with pumpkin and a little spooky with the black cocoa, this marbled pumpkin Bundt cake belongs on your table during sweater weather season. In creating this recipe, I leaned on a family-favorite pumpkin bread but gave it a literal and figurative twist by combining it with chocolate in a Bundt pan. The end result is a cake with an elevated, elegant appearance, but it's surprisingly easy to make: everything comes together with just a whisk, a few bowls, and a kitchen scale!

View of the inside of the pumpkin and black cocoa Bundt cake, with a slice removed to reveal the marbling.

The black color is striking, but it's even more interesting when you know it all comes from the natural color (and delicious flavor) of black cocoa powder. Not a drop of dye or food gel coloring in sight.

If you've made my black cocoa cookies, you're already familiar with black cocoa and its taste: smooth, dark, and like an Oreo. Alongside warm and cozy pumpkin, the addition of chocolate rounds out the flavors. And if you're a chocolate lover like I am, you'll also appreciate the chocolate chips you can add here, too!

If this ingredient caught your eye, you'll also find it in my black cat cake for Halloween, and it turns up again in my black velvet cupcakes. If you came for the pumpkin, my Milk Bar-style pumpkin chai latte cake is another good option for you. It's a layer cake, with cozy spices to bring fall flavors to mind.

Overhead angle of the orange and black swirled Bundt cake.

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🖤 Why You'll Love this Recipe
📋 Key Ingredients for this Pumpkin Marble Bundt Cake
💡 Pro Tip: Prep your Bundt Pan
🤔 Pan Size: Using a 10-cup or 12-cup Bundt Pan
📖 How to Make a Marbled Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Recipe Substitutions and Variations
🍯 Instructions for the Simple Vanilla Glaze
More Tips for Baking Success
❓ Recipe FAQ and Troubleshooting
Storing and Serving
More Ideas for Fall
Marbled Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Black Cocoa

🖤 Why You'll Love this Recipe

One Base, Two Batters for Easier Prep: Some marbled cake recipes ask you to mix two separate batters from start to finish. This essentially means you're following all the steps and having to do them twice! I wanted a simpler approach. In this pumpkin Bundt cake, the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients are each mixed once and split in half by weight. You're measuring a single time instead of twice.
No Mixer Required: A few bowls, whisk, spatula, and kitchen scale are all you need. Both batters are oil-based and come together smoothly and easily.
Real Black, No Dye: Black cocoa powder brings a ton of color and flavor. The chocolaty taste is smooth and dark and pairs nicely alongside the spices.
A Showstopper of a Slice: I'm truly obsessed with the contrast between the orange and black batters and think you'll feel the same once you cut into this beauty! It's a fun one to serve that brings a bit of a "wow" factor.
Works for Fall or Halloween: Skip the glaze for a simpler, breakfasty kind of cake. Or glaze it for a Halloween centerpiece or special occasion.

📋 Key Ingredients for this Pumpkin Marble Bundt Cake

Labeled ingredients for marbled pumpkin Bundt cake, including black cocoa powder and pumpkin puree.

The recipe card below has everything you need. These ingredients are some of the stars of this bake, with a bit more context on why they matter here:

Black cocoa powder - This is a heavily alkalized cocoa, meaning its bitterness and acidity have been stripped. The result? An intensely dark (I daresay stunning!) color and a smooth flavor. Like regular cocoa, it can create clumps so be sure to sift it before using. It's the same powder behind my black cocoa buttercream if you want a true black frosting without food dye.
Very hot water - Blooming the black cocoa in hot water releases its oils and deepens the flavor. It also hydrates the cocoa so it can combine readily into the batter without any grittiness.
Espresso powder - You wouldn't suspect this ingredient from taking a bite of the cake, as you won't taste coffee. Both hot coffee and espresso powder intensify chocolaty flavors in baking, which is why I almost always add one or both. That said, you could get by without including espresso powder if you don't have any on hand.
Pumpkin puree - Be sure to use canned pumpkin puree instead of pumpkin pie filling. The latter is pre-sweetened and spiced so would change the flavor and texture here.
Buttermilk and white vinegar - Both add acidity to the dark batter, which reacts with the baking soda to keep this Bundt cake moist and tender.
Neutral oil - I love baking with oil because of the moisture it gives baked goods. It helps desserts like this cake stay soft for days. Note that you should use a flavorless variety like canola or vegetable so the oil doesn't compete with the taste of the pumpkin or cocoa.
Cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice - Either works, depending on your preference. I opt for pumpkin pie spice because I like the mix of spices included (usually nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger, and cinnamon), but you could play with this to your liking.

Did you try this recipe? I'd love to hear all about it!

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💡 Pro Tip: Prep your Bundt Pan

Action shot of a pastry brush prepping a Bundt pan so the cake doesn't stick.

Every groove of a Bundt pan needs a proper coating, or your cake won't release cleanly. This is especially important with this marbled cake so you don't lose any of that unique, striking pattern on top!

I apply baking release spray here, using a silicon brush to work it into every groove of the pan. It's the same method I use for my raspberry chocolate Bundt cake, and it hasn't failed me yet.

While it would normally be fine to dust this pan with flour, avoid that here, as the white color of the flour may leave uneven streaks across the mix of darker colors (especially the chocolate) in the batter.

If you've properly prepped your pan but still have issues with cake sticking, it may be time for a new pan. Older ones can gradually lose their nonstick coating and heat conductivity.

🤔 Pan Size: Using a 10-cup or 12-cup Bundt Pan

I've successfully tested this chocolate pumpkin Bundt cake in both a 10-cup and 12-cup pan, with photos below.

Because of the dimensions of my two pans, it bakes in a similar amount of time either way. Start checking around the 45-minute mark.

Whole marbled pumpkin Bundt cake on a cake stand with small pumpkins in the background. — *Made with Nordicware's 10-cup Heritage Bundt pan.*

Cake stand holding an orange and black swirled Bundt cake, baked in a Nordicware Bundt pan that holds 12 cups of batter. — *Made with one of Nordicware's 12-cup Bundt pans.*

📖 How to Make a Marbled Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°F, prep your Bundt pan, and dive into the steps below.

Dark black cocoa mixture in a mixing bowl with a whisk.

Step 1: Whisk the very hot water, espresso powder, and sifted black cocoa powder together until completely smooth. Set it aside to cool while you work through the rest of the recipe.

Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Set a second large bowl on a scale and divide the mixture evenly between the two, about 325 grams each.

Whisked eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large measuring cup, ready to divide between mixing bowls.

Step 3: In a large measuring cup, whisk the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour half into each bowl of dry ingredients, about 175 grams each. Don't mix them in yet.

Pumpkin batter in an aluminum mixing bowl.

Step 4: To one bowl, add the pumpkin puree. Whisk until just combined and no dry streaks remain, then add the two tablespoons of room temperature water to loosen the batter.

Black cocoa cake batter in a mixing bowl, ready to layer into the pan.

Step 5: To the second bowl, add the cooled cocoa mixture along with the buttermilk and white vinegar. Whisk until just combined, then gently fold in the chocolate chips if you're using them.

Orange pumpkin and black cocoa batters spooned in alternating dollops and swirled once with a knife in the Bundt pan.

Step 6: Spoon alternating dollops of each batter into the prepared pan, staggering the colors as you build up layers. Run a butter knife or skewer through the batter in one continuous pass around the pan, then stop. Continuing to swirl the batter with a knife will muddy it, so stop while you're still ahead!

Baked marbled pumpkin Bundt cake cooling in the pan, pulling gently away from the sides.

Step 7: Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, tenting loosely with foil around the 40-minute mark if the top is darkening quickly. The cake is done when it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a skewer, toothpick, or cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Baked Bundt cake, flipped out of the pan and cooling on a wire rack.

Step 8: Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely before glazing or slicing.

Recipe Substitutions and Variations

View of the inside of the pumpkin and black cocoa Bundt cake, with a slice removed to reveal the marbling and chocolate chips added to this version.

Chocolate chips: Adding ¾ cup of chocolate chips to the dark batter helps keep the two colors separate as they bake, so the swirl stays visible and distinct. You can also sprinkle them directly into the pan as you layer.
Cinnamon: Swap the pumpkin pie spice for an equal amount of cinnamon if you'd rather use a simpler, one-note spice and let the black cocoa come forward.
Dutch process cocoa: If you can't find black cocoa, Dutch process cocoa will work in the same quantity here. You'll get a dark brown cake rather than a black one, which still marbles well.
Cream cheese glaze: For something tangier, swap the vanilla glaze for cream cheese frosting thinned with a little milk.
Espresso powder: Leave it out if you'd rather, though the chocolate flavor will be slightly flatter.

🍯 Instructions for the Simple Vanilla Glaze

Overhead image of ingredients to make a glaze for a variety of baked goods.

The glaze is optional, but I love the contrast it creates with the orange and black cake! An ideal spooky season bake. 👻

Beyond visual interest, the glaze adds a bit of sweetness, too.

⭐️ For simple cleanup, I recommend glazing the cake on a cooling rack set on top of a plate or other surface to collect excess glaze.

Make the glaze: Whisk the sifted powdered sugar, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt together in a small bowl until smooth.

Glaze the cake: Drizzle over the completely cooled cake. I like to do two coats, adding the second once the first has set for a few minutes. That gives you a thicker, more opaque white against the dark cake.

Vanilla glaze drizzled over the cooled marbled Bundt cake.

More Tips for Baking Success

Use a kitchen scale. The whole method depends on splitting the dry and wet mixtures evenly, and a scale makes that accurate in a way eyeballing can't.
Let the cocoa mixture cool. It should be no more than warm to the touch before it meets the eggs in the batter.
Mix the dark batter last. Once the baking soda meets the buttermilk and vinegar, the reaction starts. Get that batter into the pan within about ten minutes.
Check your baking powder and soda. Test baking powder with hot water or baking soda with vinegar to be sure they're still active.
Don't rely on color for doneness. The black cocoa makes visual cues useless here. Go by the skewer and by the cake pulling away from the pan's sides.

❓ Recipe FAQ and Troubleshooting

What does black cocoa taste like?

Black cocoa is heavily alkalized, which strips out most of the acidity and bitterness you'd associate with a cocoa that dark. The flavor is smooth and earthy, closest to the cookie half of an Oreo. It's less sharply chocolatey than Dutch process cocoa, which is why the espresso powder is here to back it up.

Can I use Dutch process cocoa instead of black cocoa?

Yes, in the same amount. You'll get more of a dark brown batter instead of a black one, so the contrast against the pumpkin is softer but still clearly marbled. If you want the dramatic black, go for black cocoa! It's so fun in fall bakes.

Why did my marble turn muddy?

Almost always over-swirling. Each pass of the knife blends more of the two batters, so one continuous pass is the limit. The other culprit is batters of very different thicknesses — if one is much looser, it sinks through the other instead of sitting beside it.

Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree?

No. Pumpkin pie filling contains other ingredients and would throw off this recipe. Look for a can labeled pure pumpkin.

Can I make this cake ahead of time?

Yes. The cake keeps for 2 to 3 days and freezes for up to 3 months. If you're making it ahead, hold off on the glaze until serving.

Storing and Serving

Room temperature - This Bundt cake stays fresh for 2 to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. The oil in both batters keeps the crumb soft longer than a butter cake would.

Refrigerating - For longer storage, keep the cake in a cake carrier or airtight container in the fridge. Bring slices out about half an hour before serving, given that this cake is more moist and flavorful at room temperature.

Freezing - This cake freezes well either whole or in slices. Wrap well, and add wax or parchment paper between slices for easier serving. Move it from the freezer to the fridge the night before you plan to serve it.

Slices of marbled pumpkin and black cocoa Bundt cake on a white plate.

More Ideas for Fall

If this got you in the mood for more Bundt cakes, my mini carrot Bundt cakes come together the same easy way, in a smaller size that's nice for a crowd. Or try my mini apple Bundt cakes if you're looking for something seasonal that isn't pumpkin.