Recipes Using Buttermilk Powder

If you’re looking for a delicious, seasonal, berry cake recipe to add to your morning-treat repertoire, this buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake is perfect! The batter can be made ahead of time and stashed in the fridge, allowing you to bake the cake off in the morning. What’s more? It freezes beautifully!

This morning I awoke needing a simple, summery, cake-like-but-not-dessert-like breakfast treat. One of Ben’s friends had crashed here last night, and I thought it only appropriate to treat him to a proper breakfast.

In other words, I was craving sugar and carbs. The truth is I’ve been craving sugar and carbs and a cake like this for months. But seriously, who doesn’t need a good, seasonal, berry cake recipe in their morning-treat repertoire?

Easy Buttermilk Pancakes

Nobody. And I think I’ve found the recipe that fits the bill: buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake. On an old photocopied sheet of paper in my mother’s hand writing, I spotted a note: “Baby Boy’s Favorite.”

Oh Baby Boy. Baby Boy is my younger brother, my parents’ favorite child, and one of the most satisfying people to cook for. If it was Baby Boy’s favorite cake, it would soon be mine, too. This cake is delectable! I think you’ll like it, too.

This cake is a long-time family favorite. My mother made it for my siblings and me when we were young, and every time I pull it out of the oven, clichè as it sounds, I am reminded of summer mornings in my childhood kitchen. It’s simple, adaptable, and make aheadable 🙂

Powdered Buttermilk—a Good Cook's Secret Ingredient

Over the years, many questions have been asked, which I’ve answered as best as I can in the comments. I’ve answered a few FAQs in the notes below the recipe as well.

Also, if you’re new here, welcome! You’ve landed on one of the two most popular recipes on Alexandra’s Kitchen, the other being My Mother’s Peasant Bread, which led to the creation of my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs, which includes 40 simple bread recipes and 70+ recipes for eating them up.This moist vanilla buttermilk cake is a favorite. It’s easy and bakes in a 13×9 inch pan, then it’s topped with a yummy glaze that soaks in making the cake super moist and tasty. This cake is one of the best cakes I’ve ever had and it’s sure to be a family favorite.

Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section , which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!

Powdered Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe

Confession…I ate A LOT of this cake. I mean I gave some away as well, but I personally ate way too much. This isn’t an exaggeration either. I LOVE this cake and it’s one of my absolute favorites.

Buttermilk: Of course a buttermilk cake is going to have buttermilk in it. First, if you don’t like buttermilk, don’t panic. I don’t like buttermilk either and you will never catch me drinking it, but when it’s an ingredient in a cake, it will NOT come out tasting like buttermilk.

What buttermilk does in a cake is it gives it moisture and a really amazing taste, but nothing like if you were to drink it straight from the glass. So if you’re hesitant about trying it in a cake, don’t be. It’s seriously good.

Make Your Recipes Better With Buttermilk Powder

The glaze also uses buttermilk, but don’t be scared away by that either. I promise, it does not taste like buttermilk. Also make sure to read the Tips and FAQ section in this post to answer questions about substituting it if you have to.

Vanilla Extract: Ideally I’d like to use vanilla bean paste (which you can still do if you want), but lately vanilla is super expensive, so vanilla extract does the job and it’ll still taste amazing.

Unsalted butter: This will be used for both the cake and the glaze. Read the Tips and FAQ section in this post to answer questions about substituting it.

Moist Buttermilk Chocolate Cake Recipe

Sugar: This recipe calls for regular granulated sugar for the cake and brown sugar for the glaze…(because brown sugar makes everything better, right?).

For this cake, you’ll use the reverse creaming method. Don’t worry, it’s easy and I go through all the steps in the recipe card below.

The reverse creaming method just means you’ll mix up all the dry ingredients in one bowl, the liquid in another bowl, then you cut in the room temperature butter into the dry mixture and mix until it’s crumbly.

The Best Buttermilk Cornbread Recipe

Then you’ll add in the liquid in two parts and mix. I actually find that the reverse creaming method is easier to do than the regular creaming method where you alternate adding in the ingredients…that’s kind of a pain sometimes.

Now, the easy thing about this cake is that it’s baked in a 13×9 inch glass pan, so there’s not worrying about having to remove the cakes from layer pans or anything like that. And you don’t have to get fancy with icing either.

The glaze is cooked on the stove (it’s really easy though) and then it’s poured over the warm cake (that you’ve poked holes in) and allowed to soak in. Don’t skip that part as that’s what really sets this cake apart.

Homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix

This recipe calls for unsalted butter, which I find best for baking. You don’t really want to substitute it with margarine as that isn’t the same as butter and you may get an unintended result.

Yes, the butter for the cake batter, needs to be almost room temperature. Don’t microwave it as that over-heats it and can heat it unevenly.

Just cut the butter up and let it sit out on a plate to warm up a bit (for reference…that’s usually about an hour or a bit longer in about a 73 degree room).

Buttermilk Bundt Cake With Buttermilk Glaze

As for the eggs, you can set them out when you start the mixing process and they should be just fine if they’re a little cold.

It’s scientific, but essentially, if the cake batter is a little acidic, then it will help to make the cake more moist and tender because it will break down the longer strands of gluten that can be tough.

Well you’re in luck because you don’t really taste the buttermilk in cakes. I actually don’t like the taste or the texture of buttermilk, but it’s great to use for baking cakes. It makes them moist and just brings out all the other flavors.

Buttermilk 101: How To Make It & How To Substitute It

If you absolutely cannot get buttermilk, then you can substitute it by adding one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup, then pour in regular milk until it measures one cup. Let it sit for five minutes before adding to the batter. For this recipe, you’ll need one and a half cups, so make the substitution above once and then make half that amount.

Now, just understand that you won’t end up with the same exact cake if you use this substitute, so if you’re really just wanting a good vanilla cake that doesn’t use buttermilk, then you can find my recipe for that here: Favorite Vanilla Bean Cake

Yes, it’s great if you can get full fat buttermilk, but lately it’s been hard to find. I used the reduced fat buttermilk and it turned out great.

Buttermilk Pound Cake

Yes and no. The cake batter will bake up the same whether baked in a 13×9 inch pan or two, 8″ round cake pans. However you may not want to use the glaze if you’re making this into a layer cake because it will make the cake layers very very soft and may not lift out of your cake pans properly.

If you do decide to make this as a layer cake not use the glaze, you may want to check out my recipe for vanilla buttercream here: Vanilla Bean Buttercream

You also want to make sure that you’ve poked holes in the warm cake with a skewer to help the glaze soak into the cake.

Easy Buttermilk Cornbread (best Sweet Cornbread)

Note About How I Write Recipes: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. Please note that because I develop recipes using volume measurements, I can’t guarantee that

This moist vanilla buttermilk cake is a favorite. It's easy and bakes in a 13×9 inch pan, topped with a yummy glaze that soaks in making the cake super moist and tasty.

Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post, which may answer questions about substitutions.

Amazon.com: Hoosier Hill Farm Buttermilk Powder, 1lb (pack Of 1)

Can you make this into a layer cake? Well yes and no. The cake batter will bake up the same whether baked in a 13×9 inch pan or two, 8″ round cake pans. However you may not want to use the glaze if you’re making this into a layer cake because it will make the cake layers very very soft and may not lift out of your cake pans properly. You may want to try