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Buttermilk chocolate cake made with my mama’s amazing fudgy frosting! This chocolate cake recipe is so simple, so moist, and bursting with chocolate goodness.
I have a confession to make: I’m a terrible cake decorator.
I mean, TERRIBLE.
I tend to avoid layer cakes unless my daughter is around to do the decorating for me.
I think it’s a lack of patience more than a lack of decorating skill, but either way it’s a terrible sight to see.
Which is why you’ll generally only see me serving up a cake in a 9×13 pan. This buttermilk chocolate cake is one of those cakes – so easy to prepare, no need to go crazy decorating it, and it’s perfect for a birthday cake or any other cake-like situation.
This cake is so moist thanks to the buttermilk! It has a nice depth of flavor thanks to the buttermilk too!
This easy chocolate cake recipe is my go to these days. I think you’re going to love it!
Moist chocolate cake recipe:
This buttermilk chocolate cake recipe actually starts out on the stove top! You’ll want to add some butter to a sauce pan and let it melt, along with some cocoa powder, espresso powder, and water.
Don’t worry about the espresso powder – it won’t give this cake a coffee flavor. It just deepens the chocolate flavor. If you don’t have any, I highly recommend grabbing some, but you can also leave it out if you prefer.
Add all that to a large mixing bowl and then whisk together some eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until well combined.
Stir the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture and then add in your flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir together to get your moist chocolate cake batter. So good.
Pop this into a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes.
This cake comes out SO moist.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting:
This recipe makes the best chocolate frosting and it’s so easy. It’ll make a thin layer of frosting that gets a bit crackly on top. The texture and flavor is very much like fudge, but it’s just a thin layer so it’s not overwhelmingly sweet or rich. It’s basically perfect.
This is my mama’s recipe and it goes like this:
Add butter, sugar, and milk to a sauce pan and stir until the butter has melted.
Bring to a boil over medium heat and let boil for 1 minute exactly.
Remove from the heat and stir in chocolate chips. I pretty much always use semi-sweet chips for this, but you can experiment and try this out with milk or dark chocolate too.
The chocolate chips will melt quickly as you stir.
Pour the hot frosting over the cooled cake. The frosting sets fairly quickly in just about 20 minutes.
That’s it! Your chocolate fudge frosting and buttermilk chocolate cake are ready to devour! I think you’re going to love this easy cake recipe.
More cake recipes to try:
Pumpkin Crunch Cake: This starts with a cake mix and it couldn’t be tastier.
Eclair Cake: Pudding, graham crackers, and chocolate frosting!
Applesauce Cake: I can’t get enough of this bundt cake.
Chocolate Dump Cake: There’s pudding mix, so you know it’s good.
Peanut Butter Sheet Cake: I put peanut butter in everything. 😉
Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 cup butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the frosting
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Add the butter, cocoa powder, water, and espresso powder to a sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring often.
- Remove from the heat and carefully pour cocoa mixture into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the flour, sugar, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Use an electric mix to beat together the ingredients until well combined.
- Pour batter into prepared dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow cake to cool before frosting.
For the frosting
- Add the sugar, butter, and milk to a small sauce pan over medium heat and stir often until the butter has fully melted and the mixture come to a boil.
- Boil for 60 seconds exactly and remove from the heat.
- Add the chocolate chips to the pan and stir until the chocolate has melted and the frosting is smooth.
- Pour the frosting over the chocolate cake evenly and allow to set for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nicky says
So on any given day I actually hate chocolate cake but this has made me like chocolate cake to the point that I am actually going to make this for my family. I made it for a couple of friends and it was a super hit the only thing i changed was i added chocolate chips to the batter but other than that i made as is and it was so easy to make. Thank you so much
Chris says
The best chocolate cake recipe yet! It was super moist and delicious. I didn’t have espresso powder so I used cold brew coffee in place of the water. I was afraid the icing would be too sweet but it wasn’t. It was like a thin coating of creamy fudge. Yum! This will be my go-to for chocolate cake from now on.
Karly says
Yay! Love to hear that!
Nancy says
The cake was fantastic, the icing not so much. I will make the cake again but use a different icing recipe. Upon setting the icing got very grainy and crunchy, not what you want on such a delicious cake.
Karly says
Oh no, the icing definitely shouldn’t be grainy. It sets up like a thin fudge. Sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Julia says
The liquid in this recipe ended up making a soupy cake batter that is not baking up. 2 1/2 C liquid butter water and buttermilk with 2 C flour and 2 C sugar. I dont know what to make of this? Its been 40 mins and this cake is cooked on the outside and a mess on the inside. =/
Karly says
Hi Julia! It sounds like it just needs to bake a bit longer…is your oven the correct temperature? The batter is definitely thin, but most cake batters are. I’ve never had an issue with this baking up properly and I’ve never received comments from others about the issue either. Sorry I can’t help troubleshoot – I’m not sure what the issue would be.
carlos says
Is this cake recipe good for high altitudes above 5,000 feet or do i have to make adjustments. look good
Karly says
Hi Carlos! I don’t have any experience with baking at higher altitudes, so I really can’t say how it would work or what changes you’d need to make.
lisa g. says
This is my first recipe to make from this site and let me tell you it was delicious! Very easy to make. Will be trying more recipes. Thank you!
Karly says
Thanks, Lisa!
carlos says
Is this reprice good for high altitudes or do i have to make adjustment. thx
Susan says
Followed directions and cake turned out wonderful. I didn’t have expresso powder so used 1 cup strong Kona coffee. Total hit. Icing was wonderful and set up nice. Making my second one this evening. First was for a birthday request. ***Keeper***
Karly says
So glad it’s a keeper, Susan! <3
Ruqaiya says
Hi!
Thanks very much for this lovely recipe. I tried the cake and it was absolutely delightful. And super easy to make too. I normally don’t leave comments but your cake and techniques were so good and easy that I felt it unfair to use them and not thank you.
Sheila Smith says
My cake turned out flat but it taste delicious. I can’t figure out what I did wrong does anybody have any ideas? I was wondering if my oven wasn’t hot enough. Thank you for your time
Karly says
Hi Sheila! Are you sure your baking soda was fresh? It does expire and won’t work once it’s old. Otherwise, I’m not sure why it wouldn’t have risen.
Joanna says
The cake is great, thank you soooo much for the recipe!
My suggestion – double the frosting, the more such fudgy frosting, the better!
Michelle says
Best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted! Do you think this recipe would work for cupcakes?
Karly says
Hi Michelle! I think it would, but you’ll need to watch the bake time. 🙂
Michelle says
Thank you! Would you happen to have a guess on approximately how much time for cupcakes? I’m not a cupcake baker, but my daughter wants to make them as cupcakes.
Karly says
Cupcakes are usually around 15-22 minutes. When the tops look down, lightly press with your finger and they should bounce back when done. 🙂
Beatric says
Whoops. I did not bring the espresso/ butter/ cocoa to a boil. I just melted it. Am I going to end up with junk?
Karly says
Hmm, not sure! Keep us updated! Hopefully it works out.
Melissa says
This looks delicious! I have some homemade buttermilk in the fridge I need to use up, so will make this. Quick question, could I sub olive oil or possibly coconut oil for the cake? Butter is so damn expensive here in New Zealand (and I don’t use margarine) that I thought I could possibly make it without. I’d definitely use the butter for the frosting though.
Karly says
You likely could substitute a neutral oil like vegetable or canola oil. Olive oil will definitely leave a taste and coconut oil likely will as well. I haven’t tried with oil, so I can’t say for sure it will work, but I think it would.
Cindy says
I put heating cores in my cake forgetting that I wasn’t going to flip it out ?????. Lesson learned!
Donna Ravendran says
Hi – what sort of flour? Plain or self raising? Thanks
Karly says
All purpose flour.