White Chocolate Buttermilk cake is made light and delicious with fresh Buttermilk. It’s easy moist and so delicious.
Buttermilk is the best in this White Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
Love it or hate it, white chocolate divides a crowd. This cake though does not divide a crowd. Why ? because it is moist and funny enough it doesn’t taste like white chocolate. It is light because of the buttermilk and the building of the ingredients. That means lots of beating of butter and sugar to start….. and that is the secret to any cake that starts with butter and sugar.
When I see a recipe with buttermilk, I almost invariably know it will have a lovely texture. It adds a lightness and moisture that is unique as well as a pleasant tang. It’s perfect for cakes, breads, biscuits or savoury foods for that extra flavour while adding very little fat.
This rich-tasting milk is an acidic ingredient, like yoghurt and sour cream, it also helps tenderise the gluten in batter, giving baked goods a softer texture and more body. It can also be used to tenderise meats. The acidic kick in it helps quick breads and heavy fruity and chocolatey things rise. In fact, the acid reacts with baking powder and soda to create an extra kick in the rising department.
Whats Buttermilk?
Buttermilk is closest in taste to yoghurt however it is not as heavy as yoghurt or even cream in texture, but it’s a bit thicker than milk.
It was once a by product of the butter making process after churning the cream to butter, the leftover liquid is left to ferment. Commercial buttermilk is rarely made like this now. It’s made by far more industrial processes. In places like Nepal and India, you can still find handmade buttermilk in many households where it is a popular drink.
If you have trouble searching it out you can make your own by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of full fat milk and letting it sit to curdle for a few minutes. There is nothing at all like the real thing so if I can find an Artisan buttermilk I buy it. If you are in Sydney and would like to try some local buttermaker Pepe Sayer sells beautiful handmade buttermilk.
Now this chocolate cake is a real beauty. It is moist from buttermilk, but it also has butter and white chocolate. Funny thing is it doesn’t taste sweet. I’ve admittedly gone overboard by adding a white chocolate icing too. Why on earth not?
Steps to making White Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
Steps to making the cake and the icing.
- The ingredients for the White chocolate cake are flour, butter, sugar, melted white chocolate, eggs, baking powder, baking soda and of course buttermilk
- Start by melting the white chocolate and setting it aside. Then adding nice softened butter to a bowl with caster sugar and mixing till creamy.
- The most important part about making a cake like this is to make sure the butter and sugar are light and creaming. Once the mixture is creamed and light start adding the eggs just one at a time till mixed in.
- The next thing to do is add the buttermilk and flour alternately in two additions. Mix till just combined.
Next….
- The next step is to add the just warm white chocolate and mix in well.
- You’ll now have a light fluffy mixture. Scrape down the sides and stir.
- Spoon it into a sprayed and lined tin. The tin can be a tray or a deeper tin. I have used a 24x17cm (9.5 x 7 inch) rectangle. This makes a nice deep cake. The previous picture above was a square tin 24 x24 cm (9 x9 inch) making the cake not quite as tall. You can use a round tin too if you prefer. I would suggest a 23 cm or 9 in. The cake will rise so leave some room at the top.
It is lightly burnished and that’s fine. Sometimes I trim the top of a cake that domes slightly but I just cover this one in white chocolate frosting. It is a dense cake and does take around 50- 60 minutes in my oven. Baking times will vary. my oven is not fan-forced. If yours is you will need to reduce the baking temperature perhaps to 160C / 320 F
Once the cake is cooled you can frost or ice it.
Simple White Chocolate icing/ frosting
- Start by melting the white chocolate and setting it aside, then start with softened butter
- Add the soft butter and icing sugar into a bowl
- Beat it until it is light and fluffy. This is important. take your time as this will make your frosting light and very fluffy.
- Add the melted just warm chocolate and beat again until white and light
- The frosting looks lovely and light. Should you add white chocolate when it is too warm, melting the butter slightly you will need to beat it longer until the ingredients cool. It’s best to wait till the chocolate is just warm before adding it.
- Set your cake onto a rack or cake plate. Grab a palette knife or a long flat one that will do the same thing.
- Start spreading onto your cake being careful not to pull a whole lot of crumbs into the frosting as you spread it
- You can decorate your cake with white chocolate shavings. use a sturdy vegetable peeler to peel shavings from a block.
Here are some other white chocolate recipes
Pistachio White Chocolate Cookies 
White Chocolate Strawberry Tart 
No Bake White Chocolate Berry Tart 
White Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
Ingredients
- 200 gm butter unsalted
- 200 gm caster sugar 1 cup
- 320 gm plain flour 2 cups
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 150 gm white chocolate melted
- 250 ml buttermilk 1 cup
- 3 large eggs 70 gm
- vanilla
Icing
- 150 gm butter unsalted
- 260 gm icing sugar 2 cups
- 150 white chocolate melted set aside
- 5 ml vanilla
Decorating
- 50 gm white chocolate block
- 25 gm pepita seeds or any toasted nuts
Instructions
- Oven 170 C/ 320 F or 160 C / 320F fan forced. Line and grease a rectangular 17x 24 cm or 9×7 in square tin or see variations in notes (a smaller tin for a deeper cake cook times may vary)
- Mix the flour with the baking powder and baking soda in a bowl with a whisk or sieve
- Melt the butter over a double boiler or very very gently in the microwave at small intervals. Set aside to use when just warm
- Beat the butter and sugar for the cake until very light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one a time combining completely. Then add 1/2 the flour and 1/2 buttermilk. Mix lightly. Then add the remaining buttermilk and flour mixing till only JUST combined.
- Now turn off the mixer and add all of the chocolate and beat into the batter till incorporated. Approximately 1/2 a minute
- Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for approx 45- 50 minutes. test with a skewer. If the skewer is removed with batter cook a further 10 minutes and test again. The skewer will come out clean when cooked. This cake can take a usually little over an hour, you can cover it with foil at this stage to stop it getting more colour if you wish.
The Icing
- Beat the softened butter with the icing sugar (powdered sugar) till light. This is very important as it will make your frosting light and fluffy
- Scrape down the sides frequently when creaming
- Stop the mixer and add all of the chocolate. Beat well to combine and add more air.
- Spread the frosting onto a cooled cake. It can be decorated with chocolate shavings. make these by "peeling" the chocolate with a vegetable peeler over a bowl. Sprinkle the cake with the chocolate and toasted seeds or nuts
Notes
Hi, Haven’t commented for a while as I have been busy cooking for family celebrations…one after the other.
I am making this cake this afternoon and just wanted to confirm the cream cheese quantity. It has 25 grams…is this right or should it be 250 grams?
Thanks again.
Looking forward to having time to cook all of your recipes I have earmarked.
Regards
Angela
I love me some white chocolate, and I’ve recently embraced buttermilk in my poffertjes recipe (I’d always used milk before), and it makes such a difference, if you’re making it fresh. If you’re saving the batter for later, it’s better to use milk, because the buttermilk’s reaction is shortlived.
Some sensible advise there. Thanks for your ideas
I have always wondered the whys and wherefores of buttermilk thanks, and thanks also for the recipe, will it matter too much which kid of white chocolaate I use?.
I am not sure. The fat used in chocolate bits ( melts) is vegetable fat. The fat used in white coverture is cocoa butter, so this is a smoother more rounded fat to cook with. You can buy quite a good white chocolate in the supermarket in Australia now… it is in a bar I think its Plaistowe, that would be best
What a beautiful cake and pretty cupcakes! Everything looks exquisite.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thamk you Rosa
I love white chocolate, so this sounds delicious! I’ve never tried fresh, real buttermilk. I wish I could get it locally.
Yes, it is really very special and makes everything light
And you know I am one of those opiniated anti white chocolate brigade- except of course when I had one of your cakes that had white choc and was soooooooo yummy! Still don’t like to call it chocolate…
You like anything I make piglet
This cake looks lovely! 🙂 I know, people are so opinionated about white chocolate aren’t they? I like it but I like it best with tart flavours to counter it.
Yeah I love it with passionfruit