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You are here: Home / buttermilk / Buttermilk Glazed Buttermilk Chocolate Snack Cake; OXO Brownie Spatula

Buttermilk Glazed Buttermilk Chocolate Snack Cake; OXO Brownie Spatula

September 28, 2013 By Laura 11 Comments

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Buttermilk and Cocoa Sheet Cake with Buttermilk GlazeThere are compliments, and then there are compliments. Guys, I received just about the sweetest, biggest, best compliment I have ever received on anything I have ever baked or cooked for this cake.

But let me start at the beginning. As soon as I saw this cake in The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook: Recipes and Reflections from a Small Vermont Dairy I knew I was making it. At the same time, the school carnival was coming up, and as you guy know I always like to bake for the cake walk. So I split this 9X13 sheet cake into 2 8X8 snacking cakes, and saved one for us and one for the cake walk. At the same time, the day of the carnival, my kids each had a friend over. I gave them the option of the Halloween sprinkled cookies, this cake or a small slice of the mini loaf I had for the other cake walk cake (stay tuned for recipe). Each child chose a cookie (kids and sprinkles–it is money in the bank), but since the cookies were tiny I also let them have a tiny square of this cake. I also showed them the matching cake that would be available at the cake walk.

Well darn if Alex’s friend didn’t play the cake walk repeatedly upon getting to the carnival, until she won a cake. She chose this buttermilk beauty and proceeded to run all over the cafeteria, showing anyone who would listen that she won this cake. I was so touched! Then, a few days later, she came and found me in the gym when I was picking the girls up to ask if she could please have the recipe! So adorable! Emma, this post is for you!

Buttermilk and Cocoa Sheet Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

Before I forget, I promised you guys I would show you the OXO Good Grips Plastic Brownie Spatula for Non-stick Pans that I was sent as part of their Bake A Difference campaign [Update November 2018, the original Bake a Difference link no longer works, so that link will take you to OXO’s page about their work with Cookies for Kids Cancer in general]. I am in love with this tiny spatula! It is well designed, slices a good sized slice for a bar cookie or (like this one) a super rich cake. Best of all, however, it works in a non-stick pan. In the past I would have attempted to remove this cake from the pan with parchment paper before slicing it. Now I just leave it in the pan. The one drawback to this of course is that with a deliciously moist cake such as this one, your husband will come along and take slices while leaving the bottom of the pan a gooey mess. Which is not so nice for pictures. Alas. And yes if you are wondering I did wash the spatula before taking pictures!

brushing buttermilk glaze onto chocolate cakeAnother OXO tool from that package that came in super handy is the OXO Good Grips Silicone Pastry Brush. There are holes in a sheet inbetween the fringe of the brush that grab the marinade/glaze/etc and therefore allow you to brush more on at once. It worked perfectly for the buttermilk glaze on this cake, as you can see Alex above glazing the cake.

20130920-IMG_131520130920-IMG_1317

 

 

Because I don’t want to hold out on you, I have to also tell you that both of my cakes inexplicably rose in the center. You guys know I bake a lot of cakes, and honestly I just have not come up with a reason for this. I have a newer, even-cooking convection oven. My baking soda is fresh, although since it is baking soda my understanding is that it does not matter (unlike baking powder). I whisked the baking soda in thoroughly. I am at a loss, and yes the cake kinda looks like it has a tumor–or ten. But the weirdness collapsed and did not affect the flavor, or even really the presentation after being glazed, so I am sharing the cake anyway (we don’t want to let Emma down!). If any of my readers have any thoughts feel free to share!

5 from 2 votes
Buttermilk and Cocoa Sheet Cake with Buttermilk Glaze
Print
Buttermilk Glazed Buttermilk Chocolate Snack Cake
Closely adapted from Diane St. Clair
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: cake
Keyword: buttermilk, chocolate
Author: TheSpicedLife
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 1 3/4 cups AP flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup minus 2 t natural cocoa powder I used Ghiradelli
  • 2 t Hershey's Special Dark cocoa or substitute with a Dutch cocoa--this is optional, for the darker color
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup buttermilk I used full fat
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 t vanilla
For the buttermilk glaze:
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk I used full fat
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • pinch of fine sea salt
  • 1 t vanilla
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thoroughly butter a 9X13 baking pan or 2 8X8 baking pans. Be sure to get the corners! Set aside.
  2. Whisk together the flour, both sugars, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat bring to a boil the cocoa powders, the butter and the water. Stir constantly. As soon as the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil, pour the mixture into the bowl with the flour.
  4. Using a handheld beater, beat the cocoa mixture into the flour mixture on medium speed just until mixed. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and then add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl one more time before finishing.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan/s. Bake for 20-25 minutes (keep a close eye on the cakes if you are using smaller pans, but I found they took about the same amount of time as the bigger pan would). When they are done, the cake will start pulling away from the edges of the pan and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake will come out with only a few crumbs attached (or clean).
  6. Let the cake cool completely in the pan.
  7. For the glaze, whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Taste for additional salt, sugar or even buttermilk. Because this is a glaze and not a frosting, if the recipe as written will be too sweet for you, just add less sugar.
  8. When the cake is cool, brush the glaze all over the cake, being certain to get the sides and corners as well. Let the glaze sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

 

The fine print: OXO did send me these items for free, but did not compensate me in any other way. I paid for the cookbook used myself. My opinions are my own; I only accept OXO tools because I really like their company. Affiliate links, as always, were used in this post.

Filed Under: buttermilk, cakes, chocolate, cooks' tools, kids cooking, reviews, Tools Tagged With: buttermilk, cake, chocolate, cocoa, glaze, natural cocoa, OXO, review, sheet cake, snacking cake

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Comments

  1. Joanne says

    September 28, 2013 at 9:11 am

    That cake looks so crazy rich and chocolatey! ANd moist. Super moist. I love that in my chocolate cakes.

    Reply
  2. Felice/All That's Left Are The Crumbs says

    September 29, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    I have the The Animal Farm Buttermilk Cookbook on my wishlist. I heard a podcast on it the other day and just loved the authors outlook on life and her love for her animals, plus the recipes sound delicious. I would love the be able to find “real” old-fashioned buttermilk, but that is near to impossible here. I love that Emma was determined that this cake was going to be hers. Smart girl, since it does look so chocolately and yummy. A non-stick brownie spatula is definitely something I should have in my kitchen, so I’ll be on the look-out for one.

    And I still see Buddhist Monks in the cake photo on the left 😉

    Reply
  3. Raymund says

    September 30, 2013 at 3:18 am

    5 stars
    That looks so moist, Yum!

    Reply
  4. Guyla says

    September 30, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    Hi Laura, This buttermilk cake is REALLY good! And my cake had a weird tumor looking thing too. I used a 9×13 pan. I don’t know what caused the weird rising but it also did not affect the cake texture or taste. Weird, huh? Oh yeh, I also used my Oxo Pastry Brush:) Nice to meet you!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      October 1, 2013 at 12:12 am

      That is really funny, and frankly reassuring! 🙂

      Reply
  5. grace says

    October 1, 2013 at 3:21 pm

    wow, that’s some moist cake. buttermilk is a miracle worker.

    Reply
  6. Ashley says

    October 4, 2013 at 10:15 am

    This is such a decadent looking cake. And for some reason, calling something a “snack cake” always makes it sound healthier to me, which is a good thing. Shhhh… 😉

    Reply
  7. Lisa says

    October 5, 2013 at 4:59 pm

    5 stars
    As Emma’s mom, I am SO happy she chose this cake in the cake walk! She let me have a small piece and it was amazing! Very moist and chocolatey. Thank you for posting the recipe. She is anxious to make it.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      October 6, 2013 at 2:35 am

      Please let me know how she likes it! And thanks so much for commenting! 😀

      Reply
  8. Linda says

    January 28, 2014 at 11:28 pm

    I have heard of a couple of things that help with the hump in a cake. Maybe it would help with this one but it depends on the thickness of the batter at least in one treatment. I saw Tyler Florence once make the middle more concave to even the top of a cake since the sides cook faster than the middle part. Another one from a food blogger telling to wipe all the greasing from the sides of the pan above the batter to give the batter a better surface to climb on. Maybe one of those two things would help. Can’t wait to try this one!!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      January 28, 2014 at 11:42 pm

      Thanks–I would never have thought of either of those. Good to know! Let me know how you like it!

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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