As I mentioned in this post where I made Inside Out German Chocolate Cake, my Mom’s buttermilk chocolate cake is absolutely my favorite chocolate cake of all time. It’s SO good that I’ll spare you the time of reading a story and just let you read the recipe and drool at the pictures below!! ;)
Ingredients
Makes one 13×9 cake
- 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks)
- 1 cup water
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 beaten eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Directions for Cake
1. In saucepan, combine butter* or margarine, water, and cocoa powder (*Note: this picture isn’t exactly correct because I doubled the recipe while making this cake… apologies! There should be two sticks of butter in the pan, not four!) . Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Once boiling, remove immediately from heat and set aside for a moment.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add cocoa mixture. Stir until blended. It may help to use a whisk to get out the lumps.
3. Pour mixture into one greased 13×9 inch pan, or two 9×9 inch baking pans. Bake at 375°F (25-degrees lower for a glass or dark pan) for 20-30 minutes (toothpick inserted in middle should come out clean and cake should no longer be jiggly). Take cake out of oven. Let it cool slightly (10-15 minutes), then pour Cocoa Buttermilk Frosting* over the cake. Serve warm. Let cake cool completely before putting in fridge. Note: Storing it in the fridge for a day or two improves the delicious flavors – if you can let it last that long! ;)
*Directions for Cocoa Buttermilk Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter or marg (1/2 stick)
- 3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 TBS buttermilk
- 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- In saucepan, combine butter or margarine, cocoa powder, and buttermilk. Cook and stir until boiling.
- Remove from heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl that has powdered sugar in it and walnuts (optional).
- Add vanilla. Beat very hard until no sugar lumps are left. Immediately pour over hot cake (picture below)!
- Let cool 10 minutes before diving in to let frosting firm up a bit. Freeze shortly to quicken up the process if you wish.
Alternate topping: When cake comes out of the oven, immediately spread a 12 oz. package of mini marshmallows in one layer over the hot cake. Drizzle the Cocoa Buttermilk Frosting over the marshmallows.
Nice photos! Makes me want to eat my computer screen — but I will refrain… :)
Me too! I made it again this week but it got eaten so fast! :(