A moist and delicious chocolate cake made with buttermilk and cocoa powder and  topped with a homemade chocolate frosting that’s plenty sweet. The frosting has a little crunch here and there from some toasted pecans. They taste so good with chocolate.

Square of Chocolate Buttermilk Cake on parchment paper.

Buttermilk

With buttermilk in the batter and in the frosting, this cake makes good use of Buttermilk. Do you find that you frequently have a carton of Buttermilk at the back of the fridge that’s about to go bad? I almost always seem to.

If you make this cake and still have extra buttermilk try making Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie, Buttermilk Pancakes or Buttermilk Parmesan Pork Chops.

This is a simple, old-fashioned cake that is always a winner. It’s basically a Texas Sheet Cake except instead of baking it in the typical jelly roll pan (half sheet pan), I’ve made it in a 9X13-inch pan so that it is a little thicker. Chocolate Buttermilk Cake is both light and insanely rich at the same time. It’s very difficult not to go back for another bite. And another. And another. It will keep calling out your name until every last bit is gone.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with chocolate icing.

One minute, you’ll be swooning over it, professing your love. The next minute you’ll be telling it how much hate it for making you eat too much.

That’s why this cake should only be baked for a potluck or a party where there are boatloads of people and there is no chance there will be any left over.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

Fudgy Frosting

The frosting is easily assembled in a saucepan and takes only a few minutes. Still warm when poured on top of the cake, it forms an absolutely irresistible fudgy layer. It’s the frosting that really makes the cake. What’s really nice about it is it just naturally spreads itself out over the cake. You only need a spatula to help even it out a little bit.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

That’s my kind of cake frosting. I know there are many people who enjoy the labor intensiveness of frosting a 3-layer cake. But I’m not one of them. By that point all I’m thinking is, I want a piece of this cake. Let’s hurry this up.

Buttermilk Substitute

If you don’t have any buttermilk you can make a buttermilk substitute by placing a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar in a glass measuring glass and filling to the 1 cup line with milk. Stir.

Recipe Tips

That being said, you do need to wait a little while for the frosting to cool and set up before you slice it and take a piece out, or all the frosting will run into that empty spot. Unless you stuff the empty spot with a wad of aluminum foil and tilt the pan ever so slightly to make it harder for the frosting to move in that direction. I’m not saving I’ve done that before.

Use full-fat buttermilk.

The pecans can be left out if you need a nut-free dessert.

Storage

Cake can be kept at room temperature for 4 to 5 days if wrapped well.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with chocolate icing

★★★★★
This chocolate cake is my new favorite! It has the perfect amount of sweetness and a great texture. My only problem with this cake is that I can’t stop eating it!

More Chocolate Cake Recipes

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

 Watch the video below to see how to make Chocolate Buttermilk Cake.


Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Frosting

4.92 from 62 votes

By Christin Mahrlig

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 18
A moist and chocolaty buttermilk cake topped with a sweet and fudgy chocolate buttermilk frosting with pecans. A simple, old-fashioned dessert that never goes out of style because it’s so darn good.
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Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate-Buttermilk Frosting

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 (16-ounce) package confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup toasted pecans

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9X13-inch pan.
  • Combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup water in a small saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter is fully melted. You can cut the butter into pieces to speed up the process. Remove from heat.
  • Using an electric mixer, beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla extract until smooth.
  • Gradually add melted butter mixture, beating until mixed.
  • In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, and salt. Add to buttermilk mixture and beat until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until set in the middle.
  • To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa, and buttermilk in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth.
  • Remove from heat and stir in confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and pecans. Pour over cake while cake is still warm. Let frosting cool and set some before slicing.

Notes

I use salted butter. If using unslated butter, you may want to add a pinch of salt to the batter and frosting.
Nutritional info is provided as an estimate only and will vary based on brands of products used.

Nutrition

Calories: 455kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 276mg | Potassium: 98mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 677IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag us @spicysouthernkitchen on social media!

Originally posted May 4, 2017.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

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147 Comments

  1. Kelly says:

    I love old-fashioned chocolate cakes and this one looks awesome! 3 layer cakes are great for special occasions but when I’m making a cake for my family to just enjoy – I would much prefer a cake like this one – it sounds delicious and perfect for a potluck too:)

  2. dina says:

    it looks yummy!

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Thank you Dina! ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Shashi says:

    Wow – that frosting looks insanely good! I do like a 3-4 layer cake, but will gladly dig into a slice of this with THAT frosting! Thanks for sharing this amazing cake AND frosting recipe!

  4. Krystle says:

    Oh my gosh these look SO good! Love that the icing even has butter milk in it!

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Thanks Krystle! Buttermilk in icing seems a little strange at first, but it’s so good ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Monica says:

    I love collecting good recipes using buttermilk because like you said, there’s always extra buttermilk left! I love a good chocolate cake and this looks great. Love the extra height in it going with the 9×13 pan. This is so perfect for pot luck and summer picnics coming up.

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      I always have buttermilk lingering in the back of the fridge. I know you can freeze it, but it would stay in my freezer forever if I did that:)Definitely a perfect cake for picnics! Have a great week Monica!

  6. Matt @ Runner Savvy says:

    #drool

  7. Arrisje says:

    Love your recipe and love the layout of your ziplist plugin. Any change you can share how to do that? I have been playing around a bit but not able to change the layout of prep time cook time total time, Could you tell me what do I need to add to the stylesheet?

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      I just use the Easy Recipe Plus plugin and I haven’t done anything special to change the layout.

  8. Kay Little says:

    Yummy for the tummy! My Mother use to make a this cake and we called it Texas Hot Cocoa Cakeโ€ฆmemories galore!

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Don’t you just love recipes that bring back memories! Have a great week Kay!

  9. Medeja says:

    This cake looks yummy! Brings me memories.. my mom used to make buttermilk cake.. and I have never tried myself.

  10. Ruby @ The Ruby Red Apron says:

    This chocolate cake is definitely calling my name! And that frosting sure looks good but I think I’d have trouble waiting for it to set. ๐Ÿ˜€

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      It definitely takes some discipline to wait for the frosting to set! Have a great week Ruby!

      1. Rolyn says:

        This has been my very favorite cake for years. Once while making it, two little neighbor girls were watching me. When I added the buttermilk, they both made gagging sounds and wrinkled up their noses. They thought I was going to add chocolate milk – not buttermilk, of all things. But, after it was done and they had a small slice, their whole opinion of buttermilk changed. By the way, I am a native Texan. We all call it Texas Sheet Cake. But it doesn’t matter where you live or what you call it. It’s always delicious!