BUTTERMILK CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING
This Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Frosting is a classic that will never go out of style! It’s a wonderful cake for any occasion.
If you are fan of delicious chocolate desserts, you will definitely want to give this delicious Sweet Chocolate Pie a try. It’s a wonderful dessert and has many great reviews.
❤️WHY WE LOVE THIS RECIPE
Buttermilk cake is good to serve family and friends as dessert or with a tall glass of milk anytime. This buttermilk cake is wonderful for any holiday. It is a classic that never goes out of style and one you will make over and over again. It makes a great presentation served on any buffet and there will not be any leftover. Serve it with a scoop of ice cream or just plain with coffee. This buttermilk cake speaks for itself. I love the simplicity of the cake and the good old-fashioned taste. You can never go wrong with this one.
🍴KEY INGREDIENTS
- White Sugar
- Shortening
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Buttermilk
Chocolate Frosting Ingredients
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Milk
- Cocoa ( I use Nestles 100% pure cocoa)
🍽️HOW TO MAKE
This cake is not difficult to make and you can fully watch the process in the video player below that is located in the recipe card.
COOKING STEPS
Step 1
Preheat oven to 325. Beat sugar, shortening, vanilla and eggs together with spoon or mixer. Mix flour, salt and baking soda with a wire whisk and add to creamed mixture.
Step 2
Add buttermilk and continue mixing until smooth. Divide between 3 sprayed cake pans and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until centers test done.
Step 3
Let cool and remove from pans. You can frost with any frosting you like. I used the chocolate below.
Step 4
Frosting Instructions: Mix all ingredients with mixer until spreading consistency. Spread on cake.
⭐TIP
Many people don’t keep buttermilk on hand and will ask about using a substitute. I don’t feel that would be a good thing to use in this cake. Buttermilk has a higher fat and that is needed in this recipe. You won’t have the added fat when you use a buttermilk substitute.
OTHER POPULAR CAKE RECIPES
STORING & SERVING SIZE
We store this cake in cool place and it makes about 10 servings depending on the size of each piece. This cake is one you can make the night before.
Buttermilk Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup shortening
- 6 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
Chocolate Frosting Ingredients
- 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 to 6 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup cocoa I use Nestles 100% pure cocoa
Instructions
Cake Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325. Beat sugar, shortening, vanilla and eggs together with spoon or mixer. Mix flour, salt and baking soda with a wire whisk and add to creamed mixture. Add milk and continue mixing until smooth.
- Divide between 3 sprayed cake pans and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until centers test done. Let cool and remove from pans. You can frost with any frosting you like. I use chocolate frosting.
Chocolate Frosting Instructions:
- Mix all ingredients with mixer until spreading consistency. Spread on cake.
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On our family’s Texas trip to see the solar eclipse, we enjoyed a buttermilk cake that was divine, and superior in flavor and texture to the buttermilk cake recipe that my family loved and I baked for years from Rosemary Levy Berenbaum’s Cake Bible. I wanted to recreate that wonderful cake from Texas for my husband’s birthday. I had no shortening and I used butter instead. I also subbed half the sugar for erythritol. My 2 9-inch cake pans fit the recipe beautifully. Your recipe was the bomb! So delicious, so tender, with a perfect crumb. My family loved it, agreeing that this buttermilk was soooo good. Thank you so much for generously sharing your “best damn buttermilk cake”!
You are very welcome and I am thrilled it was a hit!
Can you freeze the layers ahead of time and still have a moist cake?
Would like to make a week ahead and freeze to the day before Thanksgiving
I would double wrap each layer tightly and it should work just fine.
This cake is wonderful! I made it and used a canned chocolate frosting to save time! So good!
Has anyone ever tried using Swans Down cake flour instead of All Purpose flour?
Hi Michael,
The difference between AP & Cake Flour is that Cake Flour has a Slightly higher starch content with a lower protein content.
Cake Flour is perfect for cakes & some cookie recipes & will give a light & fluffy texture & finer crumb.
You will need to adjust your flour ratio though which is:
1 cup of AP Is equal to 1cup+2T of Cake Flour.
That’s all I ever use. Swans Down. Love it!
Hi, I want to make this but I don’t have shortening, can vegetable oil be used?
I usually use shortening but you can try it with the oil or butter. They should work but I have not tried either.
Should there be baking powder in the recipe? How does it rise?
This recipe has baking soda in it, that is how it rises.
I use the cake part of this recipe to make sheet cakes for my kids birthday, love it! Thanks!
Thank you so much, Jen! Great idea and happy you are enjoying the recipe. Have a great week ahead.
Wonderful cake
Saw this on my Pinterest feed….I will be making this for Easter in the next few weeks. I will be subbing the one cup shortening for 1/2 c leaf lard and 1/2 c butter. It has proven successful in other cake recipes that I have baked yielding the fork to slice through a velvety-y mass! Thanks so much for a wonderful looking recipe!
wonderful cake
Tried this recipe yesterday. The cake was great. My icing doesn’t look like the picture. Not sure why but loved the taste of the cake and icing together! Thanks for the Share
Just made this cake for my hubby for Fathers Day and did a little alternating for a moist cake. But a very good cake!!!
What little alternating did you do for a moist cake? What did you add?
I am going to make this the weekend. For my frosting I will use duncan hines chocolate whipped frosting, doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks for sharing !!
In the oven now. I mixed by hand and it brought back memories of my grandmother! The batter reminded me of her too when I tasted it. I’m excited about eating this tomorrow! I’m using your frosting and making it for my daughter’s birthday.
CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE THIS CAKE. WHAT SIZE PAN 8′ OR 9′
THANKS. FRANKIE
I use 8 inch pans, Frankie.
THANKS. I LOVE YOUR RECIPES CAN’T WAIT TO START COOKING .
Loved the recipe. As I live in Scotland what do you mean by shortening? Am I right in thinking it is butter or margarine? Received the recipe from my cousin in Miami.
Yes, you can use butter or margarine. Shortening is like a solid vegetable oil but butter can be used in place of it in most recipes.
Can you use a 9 x 13 pan for sheet cake?
I have not tried it Linda, but think you would be ok to do so.
Hi, Judy! Thanks for this beautiful classic! It is one of the featured cakes in my “Favorite Finds” blog post on Yesterfood.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Love, Joy
Yesterfood.blogspot.com
I wish I had a piece of your cake, now!! I’m going to bookmark this one for “soon”
I want this as my birthday cake. And I may just change my birthday to sayyyyy…tomorrow, to accomplish that!
I think my blood sugar went up 200 points just looking at it, but it looks delicious 🙂
Looks so good. I have buttermilk that need used up. What a better way then a cake.
Sounds so good–I think I may just use this for my family’s Easter gathering!
Sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it!!