Easy Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Y’all.  I’m trying to bring back birthday parties from the 90s.  The ones where your mom got a sheet cake.  Y’all know the one– one half is vanilla, the other half is chocolate with white icing.  The gallon of neapolitan ice cream and the gallon of  Kool Aid. 

Okay, so things have advanced in the world, but maybe we can bring back the sheet cake? Especially this chocolate buttermilk sheet cake. It’s soft, moist and when you top it with a fudge frosting, a chocolate lover’s dream.   

Honestly, this chocolate buttermilk sheet cake is so good that you don’t even need a birthday to make it. Sheet cakes are so great for people who are terrible at (or don’t have time for) cake decorating!  You don’t need lots of fancy equipment like a leveler or piping bag.  The best part of all is that the chocolate fudge frosting and the sprinkles can cover up many baking sins. 

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Kitchen Equipment
• How to Make the Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake
• Storing
• Variations/ Substitutions
• Frosting Pairings
• More Cake Recipes
• Recipe

Ingredients

• All purpose flour
• Granulated sugar
• Dutch process cocoa powder
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Vegetable oil
• Large eggs
• Full buttermilk
• Vanilla extract
• Strong brewed coffee
• Semisweet chocolate 

Kitchen Equipment

• Large Bowl
• Measuring cups/spoons
• Whisk
• Flexible Spatula 
• Parchment paper
• 8x11 or 9x13 baking pan
• Cooking spray 
• Stand or hand mixer fo the chocolate fudge frosting

How to Make the Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Y’all.  The beauty of making a sheet cake is that it takes the least amount of time possible.  To make this cake, you don’t even need a mixer, you can whisk everything together by hand and get the cake into the oven in the time it takes your oven to preheat. 

Prep your pans and preheat the oven.   

You can either spray the pan with baker’s joy or similar cooking spray.  Or you can line the pan with parchment paper.  If you want to serve this cake outside of the pan, I recommend letting the parchment paper hang over two sides that you can use as a handle to remove the cake in one piece. 

Make the Cake.

 You have to be able to handle the following three steps.  I have faith in y’all.

1. Gently melt semi sweet chocolate.  You can melt chocolate two ways.  Microwave Instructions.  by placing the rough chopped chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it 30 seconds at time.  You should stir the chocolate after every 30 seconds, because it may be more melted than.  Double Broiler Instructions.  Put the chopped chocolate in a glass bowl and set it over a large pot filled with boiling water.  The water should not touch the bowl.  The indirect heat of the steam will slowly melt the chocolate. Stir occasionally until all of the chocolate is melted.  Let this cool while you do the next steps.
2. Measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl.  A kitchen scale is helpful here, but not mandatory. 
3. Measure the “wet” (vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, eggs and coffee) ingredients into a large measuring cup or a medium bowl. 

Bake it.   

The bake time for the cake range is 25-35 minutes.  I say “cake range”, because the size of your pan matters  as well as whether or not your oven runs hot or cold.  Set your timer for the lowest time and start checking the cake every 5 minutes or so to see if it’s done. 

Storing

This buttermilk cake should be covered with aluminum foil and kept at room temperature.  It’s best served within three days of baking. 

Did y’all know that you can freeze slices of cake?!?!  Right now in my freezer there is one bag with slices of that coconut cake from Easter and slices of this buttermilk chocolate cake.  To freeze cake here’s what you need to do: 

1. Prep a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  
2. Slice the cake into individual servings.  This will make defrosting a breeze later. 
3. Place the cake slices on the cookie sheet and put the cake in the freezer unwrapped for 15-20 minutes.   The frosting should be firm before you move onto the next step. 
4. Wrap each slice of cake in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil.  
5. Put the slices in a freezer bag labeled with the cake name and the date. 

When you’re ready for a slice of cake, just take the cake out and let it defrost on the counter. 

Variations/ Substitutions

• Buttermilk.  So the buttermilk is important because it helps create a very moist cake with a slight bit of tang.  If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own using whole milk and white distilled vinegar.   Pour 1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup, and then fill the measuring cup to 8 ounces.  Stir it together and let it sit for a couple of minutes. 
• Melted Butter v. Vegetable Oil.  Like the buttermilk, vegetable oil creates a soft, moist cake. You can sub equal parts melted butter for vegetable oil.  

Frosting Pairings

• For coffee lovers: mocha buttercream 
• For people who love Peanut Butter Cups: Peanut Butter Buttercream
• Mint and Chocolate always go together. Mint Italian Meringue Buttercream

More Cake Recipes

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