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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
★★★★★
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
- Midnight Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Cake with Cream Filling
- Nutella Chocolate Cake
- Easy Death By Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Praline Layer Cake
Watch the video below to see how to make Chocolate Buttermilk Cake.
Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Frosting
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally posted May 4, 2017.
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Best and most simple chocolate cake recipe I’ve ever made and I love to bake. I did use 1/2 the frosting which was perfect. Thank you for this recipe!!
Made this cake after dinner one night this week. Easy to follow recipe and absolutely the moistest cake I’ve had in a long time. My frosting came out thin as I tried to half the recipe and didn’t have an exact 16 ounce box of powdered sugar. My guesstimate of 1/2 was probably too short and but the warm sweet topping was served over the warm cake ~ chocolate goodness! I will definitely make this again as it disappeared in three short evenings!
This is a delicious cake recipe. The next time I make it, I’m going to try halfing the frosting recipe or either make two cake recipes as it was a lot of frosting for one cake. Since the frosting is so rich, I think making it a smaller amount on the cake would still be very good.
Made this cake tonight. Cake is awesome. Icing is delicious but overwhelming. Cake is really great alone
I haven’t tasted a cake this good in a long while. Thus is nd time I’ve made it. I gave 2 big pieces to a neighbor. But I have to tell you over a matter of a few days I ate all of the rest myself. And I’ve been trying to get another one made for weeks. I finally decided tonight I was doing it. Cakes in the oven. I still have to make frosting. I would recommend this recipe to everyone .
Patricia…I’m with you, this is the BEST cake I’ve had in a long time. My husband found it on the net and made it last night. It sure is a WINNER!
Best chocolate cake I ever made! Very moist! The icing absorb into the cake while its still warm and creates and melty, gooey, almost fudge brownie-like cake!! Thanks!!
Wow. I made this with the leftover blackberry pulp I got from my steam juicer during a jelly-making day and I spread the pulp in the buttered pan before pouring the cake batter over it. Can’t wait for it to come out of the oven!
Can this me made layers
Can this me made layers
when you say frost when warm, does the cake need to cool a while before frosting or can you frost right out of the oven? sorry to be technical
Pour it right over the hot Cale. When it cools, it sets.
This sounds like my mothers buttermilk brownies she use to make and I lost my recipe for them. I am sure going to make this cake.
OM GOODNESS!!! This cake is heaven! My family loved it! I love it because it’s rich and has just the right amount of cocoa. This cake is perfect for or the dark chocolate lover! I always add a teaspoon of cinnamon to it because that’s the way I like it😉… thank you for sharing. I’m so glad I found this recipe!