chocolate buttermilk cake
a damn good chocolate cake.
This cake is one of the few chocolatey things I actually enjoy. Anytime I have an order with chocolate cake for the layers… I admit that I maybe sometimes make an extra layer for myself to snack on.
The coffee here is the unsung hero, it’s not something you taste but it enhances the flavor of the cocoa powder. So use something goooood- I’m currently loving Stumptown’s Holler Mt when I’m baking this cake. That extra bit of coffee from your morning brew is perfect to save for this recipe.
The cake tastes best when you use a quality cocoa powder, my forever favorites are Guittard’s Cocoa Rouge or Valhrona’s cocoa powder (which on the packaging says for chocolate drinks?? But don’t worry- it’s perfect for cake LOL).
This recipes makes 3-6” cake layers OR 2-8” cake layers.
Ingredients:
110 grams butter, room temp
230 grams granulated sugar
100 grams eggs (about 2 whole large eggs) room temp
130 grams cake flour
60 grams dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
90 grams buttermilk
90 grams coffee
10 grams vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 330F.
Line your desired size of cake pan with parchment circles (or cut your own).
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale in color on medium speed.
Meanwhile whisk together the cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt to evenly disperse the ingredients. Set aside.
Combine the buttermilk, coffee and vanilla. Set aside.
Once the butter sugar mixture is fluffy add in the eggs one at a time on medium speed. Stop the mixer to scrape the bowl to ensure everything is being incorporated. Mix for 10 ten seconds after the scraping.
Stop the mixer. Add in 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Start the mixer again on low and stream in 1/2 of the the buttermilk coffee mix. Stop the mixer to scrape down the bowl. Add the next 1/3 of the dries and once again start the mixer on low while streaming in the second 1/2 of the liquids. Once incorporated stop and scrape the mixer before adding the last 1/3 of the dries.
Mix until just about incorporated- there should be a few dry pockets.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and using a rubber spatula fold in the remaining dries. This helps to ensure you don’t over mix the batter.
Weigh your batter into your pans. For 3- 6” pans its 265 grams per pan for 2- 8” pans its 400 grams per pan. Smooth out the batter with a small off-set spatula.
Bake your cake layers for 25-30 minutes (6” layers) or 30-40 minutes (8” layers). The cake should spring back when tapped in the center or a tooth pick inserted to the center of the cake should come out with a few crumbs. If you’re a real cake nerd- you’ll temp it… a perfectly baked cake should register 205F.
Allow your cake layers to cool completely before filling and frosting.
*wrap your cakes in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge to firm up before you fill and frost your final cake- it makes the cake much easier to work with!!*
Can this cake be made in advance and frozen for a couple of days?
Ooh this recipe sounds so good, what can I sub for buttermilk, would Greek yogurt thinned with milk work?