Chocolate cake is delicious, and so is vanilla cake, but what’s even better? Both! Isabella Chan, a family farmer in the SHI-Belize program, has generously shared her recipe for chocolate marble cake—a perfect treat for your next gathering. Using organic ingredients from her farm, Isabella satisfies both chocolate and vanilla cravings while showing the sweet possibilities of sustainable farming.
Isabella’s story is just as sweet as her cake. She uses the sustainable techniques she learned through SHI to grow food that feeds her family. What they can’t eat, she sells to earn a modest income, which helps cover essential needs like school supplies and health care.
But Isabella’s chocolate marble cake is more than a dessert—it’s a way to bring her community together. The same way Isabella swirls chocolate and vanilla, creating a beautiful marble effect, she unites neighbors of all backgrounds one delicious slice at a time.
SHI-Belize partner farmer, Isabella Chan, harvesting vegetables.
Isabella demonstrating homemade organic products.
With her husband, Antonio, Isabella works to heal the planet. Antonio manages their agroforestry farm, planting fruit trees and raising goats and sheep. They reforest and fertilize land degraded by harmful agricultural practices, proving that small farms can restore the soil and environment.
Antonio Chan, Isabella’s husband and SHI-Belize partner farmer, stands next to growing seedlings on agroforestry farm.
Ready to create your own “marble effect”? Follow Isabella’s recipe below and spread the joy!
Isabella’s Chocolate Marble Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons hot water
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350ºF .
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Whisk together sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix thoroughly.
Combine cocoa powder and hot water to form a paste, then add a little of the batter to it, mixing thoroughly. Add the chocolate batter to the yellow cake batter, swirling together with a fork or knife. Don’t blend. Create the “marble effect"!
Grease a cake pan and pour batter into it.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve on its own or dress with icing. We recommend this icing recipe. Enjoy!
