Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

A moist Chocolate Buttermilk Cake covered in creamy chocolate buttercream and chocolate chips. This quick and easy chocolate cake recipe takes only minutes to make but tastes better than a box mix. It’s the perfect cake for parties, birthdays and celebrations!

This is the best, most moist chocolate cake I’ve ever had!! Was such a hit with the whole fam!

– Emma

Recipe testing

Chocolate cake can be a fickle thing. Sometimes it’s a little too dry, too dense or not chocolatey enough. And while I love my tried and true Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe, I wanted to add a quick and easy, no mixer chocolate cake to my repertoire.

And that’s where this recipe comes in. A thick, one-layer moist chocolate cake recipe that doesn’t require an electric mixer.

My first attempt used melted butter, and while it looked great in form, it was too dense and dry.

I then switched to vegetable oil as the main fat, as it tends to lend itself to moist chocolate cakes, just like my fave Malteser Cake and my Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes. However, the cake tasted vaguely of oil.

The third time around I went back to melted butter, but added a little more sugar, a little less buttermilk and a little more water. The perfect Chocolate Buttermilk Cake was born ❤️

Why use buttermilk in cakes?

Buttermilk is the answer to moist cakes that stay fresh for days. The acidity in buttermilk helps to act as a tenderiser in baked goods, resulting in soft and tender cakes, muffins, scones and pancakes. I love to use it in my easy Cheese Scone recipe.

Buttermilk can also help cakes to rise when it reacts with baking soda. It can add a slightly tangy flavour to baked goods, but you can’t taste the sourness in a homemade chocolate cake like this one. It’s there to influence texture and rise.

TLDR: Looking for a delicate and moist crumb in your cakes? Try buttermilk.

Ingredients for Buttermilk Cake

You don’t need any special ingredients to make this Buttermilk Chocolate Cake recipe – except for buttermilk.

For best results, I recommend using full fat store-bought buttermilk but I have included a DIY substitute below.

Here are some of the key ingredients you’ll need to make a delicious chocolate cake from scratch.

• Plain flour: Or all purpose flour.
• Cocoa power: You can use either natural cocoa powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder in this recipe. I’ve used natural 100% cocoa in these photos, but Dutch cocoa will give you a slightly darker crumb. Either way, make sure your cocoa is unsweetened.
• Brown sugar: Soft brown sugar or light brown sugar is best.
• Caster sugar: Or granulated sugar.
• Buttermilk: I recommend using storebought full-fat buttermilk for best results. If you cannot buy buttermilk, you can make a substitute by adding 2 teaspoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to 1/2 cup full fat or whole milk. My preferred substitute is using 1/4 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream along with 1/4 cup full fat or whole milk.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

How to make Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

One of the best things about this easy Chocolate Buttermilk Cake recipe is that you don’t need an electric mixer to make it. It’s a simple one-bowl recipe that comes together in minutes.

Here’s a quick rundown of how to make buttermilk cake. Detailed instructions are included in the recipe card below.

1. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, add butter, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk. Stir briefly just to break up the egg yolks.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and start to mix by hand. Pour in hot water and mix until combined.
4. Transfer cake batter to prepared pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave your cake to cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing from the cake pan. Transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

MAKE AHEAD INSTRUCTIONS: To make your Chocolate Buttermilk Cake ahead of time, leave it to cool completely before tightly wrapping in plastic wrap and placing it in the freezer.

When you’re ready to decorate and serve your cake, leave it to thaw at room temperature. Then frost and slice.

Ingredients for chocolate buttercream

This creamy homemade chocolate frosting is essentially an easy buttercream but with melted chocolate added into the mixture.

Using real chocolate not only ensures the buttercream is full of chocolate flavour, but it helps create a super smooth and creamy texture – perfect for frosting cakes!

Here’s everything you’ll need:

• Butter
• Icing sugar: Or powdered sugar.
• Dark chocolate: I recommend using good quality dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate that’s somewhere between 50-70% cocoa.
• Milk: Full fat or whole milk.
• Chocolate chips: For decorating only – entirely optional.

Tips for perfect buttercream

The perfect accompaniment to my Chocolate Buttermilk Cake is my easy chocolate frosting. You only need four ingredients and an electric mixer to get started.

Just like a regular Vanilla Buttercream, this recipe starts by mixing your butter until creamy, then adding your sugar. Then you’ll add your melted dark chocolate.

As you start mixing, you can gradually add your milk until you have a dreamy, creamy frosting.

Here are my tips for ensuring perfect chocolate buttercream every time:

• Use softened butter: The foundation of a smooth and creamy buttercream is softened butter. If your butter is too cold, you may end up with lumps in your frosting and you’ll also increase the risk of over-mixing.
• Sift your sugar: It is incredibly important to sift your sugar (you can even do it twice) so it easily incorporates with your butter. This will also prevent lumps or a gritty texture.
• Make sure your chocolate is cool: Your chocolate should be completely melted and smooth but it shouldn’t be hot. It is ok if it’s still a little warm.
• Add milk gradually: Add your milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you have your desired consistency. You may need more or less milk but remember – you can add milk but you can’t take it away, so go slow.
• Finish your frosting by hand: Once you have finished your frosting, swap the electric mixer for a spatula and give it one last stir by hand. This helps to get rid of any air bubbles.

How to store Buttermilk Cake

Keep unfrosted Chocolate Buttermilk Cake tightly wrapped in plastic wrap in an airtight container at room temperature.

Once frosted, you can store your cake in the fridge in an airtight container. Bring your cake back to room temperature before serving.

Recipe tips

1. Weigh your ingredients: For best results, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using a baking scale. It’s very easy to over-measure ingredients like flour and cocoa when using cup measurements.
2. Avoid over-mixing your cake batter: Once your batter is combined, you can stop mixing. Over-mixing can result in a dry or tough cake.
3. Don’t over-bake your cake: You’ll know your cake is ready when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Your cake should no longer have a sticky or wet top.

Frequently asked questions

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