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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One of our favorites, thought it would be way to sweet with all that powdered sugar in it but wasn’t!
The entire family loves this cake. My sister insists I make this every Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This is a true 5 star recipe!!! It is our regular cake that is made a couple times a month. I like to try new recipes and follow her for more recipes but especially love the buttermilk cake collection of hers. I make for an older neighbor who always says ‘I was hoping it would be that one!’ Makes my husband happy and he helps make it sometimes. He is not a cook or baker but always willing to have this cake especially for his middle of the night cravings.
I made this today,turned out great
About how long does it take icing to set
I have tried this recipe many times but I wanted to know if I could substitute butter for oil in making the cake batter. Will it still give me the same result?
There is no oil in this recipe. At all. Only butter.
This was the BEST cake EVER.
I have made this cake a dozen times, and it’s always been perfect. Tonight I made it, and the texture is dough-y with no flavor or sweetness. What could it be? I followed directions exactly.
This is my new favorite cake! I like it far better than the sheet cake. Baked the cake 40 minutes and it was perfect. The icing is amazing! Be sure to let it cool before spreading it over the warm cake. Everyone loved it!
I have made this cake twice, love it!
Delicious; however the cake was super dense, and too much wet texture. I wondered if baking powder instead of soda would result more of a fluffy sheet cake-type texture?