Chocolate buttermilk tube cake is a substantial chocolate dessert with cocoa in both the cake and icing. Buttermilk provides moisture, while dry instant chocolate pudding mix is measured directly into the batter. Chocolate chips add small pockets throughout the crumb.
Use a large metal tube pan with about twelve cups of capacity and enough room for expansion. A small loaf tin or two unspecified sandwich pans are not the stated equipment. The half cup of water belongs to the icing, not the cake batter; keep the two ingredient groups separate while measuring.
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Why This Recipe Works
The center tube gives heat another path into chocolate buttermilk tube cake. That matters for a deep, dense batter that might brown on the outside before a thick center cooks. The conventional oven starts at 350°F and is then reduced to 325°F partway through.
Dry pudding mix is an ingredient, not a bowl of prepared pudding. Adding its package directions for milk would change the batter substantially. The same distinction applies to the icing water: keeping each group separate preserves the intended consistency.
Ingredients for Chocolate Buttermilk Tube Cake
For chocolate buttermilk tube cake, use cake flour and unsweetened natural cocoa. Sift the cocoa to break up lumps and measure the dry pudding mix at half a cup, rather than automatically emptying a whole box. Choose regular instant chocolate pudding mix, not a prepared pudding or a sugar-free substitute.
The icing uses butter, water, vanilla, cocoa, powdered sugar, and up to three tablespoons cream. Sift the powdered sugar too, since a thick cocoa icing shows lumps easily. The separate teaspoon of butter greases the pan; it is not deducted from the cup mixed into the cake.
Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter (Softened)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour (Spoon and level)
- 1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (Sifted)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup dry instant chocolate pudding mix (Measured dry; do not prepare)
- 2 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon butter (Additional, for greasing the pan)
Chocolate icing
- 1/2 cup water (For icing, not cake batter)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Sifted)
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (Sifted)
- up to 3 tablespoons heavy cream (Add gradually to reach spreading consistency)
How to Make Chocolate Buttermilk Tube Cake
Heat a conventional oven to 350°F and thoroughly grease the tube pan, including the center tube. Beat softened butter with sugar and vanilla until evenly creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Whisk cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and dry pudding mix separately, then add to the butter mixture in portions alternating with buttermilk. Fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon chocolate buttermilk tube cake batter into the pan, keeping it no more than about two-thirds full. Bake thirty minutes, reduce the oven to 325°F, and continue thirty to forty minutes, or longer if the middle still shows raw batter. Test a deep central area away from a chocolate chip. Cool twenty minutes in the pan, release carefully, and cool completely on a rack before icing.
For the icing, warm water, butter, and vanilla until the butter melts. Remove from the heat, stir in cocoa, then work in sifted powdered sugar. Add cream gradually until spreadable. Let the icing become comfortably warm rather than scalding, then spread it over the fully cool cake. It thickens as it stands.
How to Serve
Slice chocolate buttermilk tube cake into sixteen moderate portions with a sharp knife. The dense crumb and substantial icing make small slices practical. Clean the blade between cuts if cocoa icing builds up. Serve at room temperature after allowing refrigerated slices a brief pause outside the container.
Storage
Keep chocolate buttermilk tube cake covered in the refrigerator for up to four days. For longer storage, wrap individual slices and freeze for up to two months for quality. Thaw wrapped slices in the refrigerator. Keep the cake protected from strong refrigerator odors and avoid repeatedly warming the whole cake just to serve one slice.
Adapted from Allie Taylor’s conventional-oven chocolate cake method at Through Her Looking Glass, including the two-stage oven schedule and separate cocoa icing.
The FDA safe food handling guidance explains prompt refrigeration and temperature checks for perishable foods.
Tips and Variations
For chocolate buttermilk tube cake, measure the pan’s capacity with water before greasing if its size is unknown, then dry it fully. If your pan is smaller than required, use an appropriately sized pan rather than filling it to the rim. Deep batter needs expansion room.
Do not use convection settings with the conventional schedule without adjusting for your oven. A dark crust is not proof of a baked center. If the top colors early, protect it loosely with foil and continue checking the interior. Never taste raw cake batter or dry pudding-and-flour mixture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can chocolate buttermilk tube cake use prepared pudding?
No. Measure half a cup of dry instant mix. Adding finished pudding would introduce extra liquid.
How much icing water does chocolate buttermilk tube cake need?
Use half a cup of water in the chocolate icing and none in the cake batter.
What pan should I use?
A large metal tube pan with about twelve cups capacity is specified, with batter kept below roughly two-thirds full.
Can I frost it while warm?
Cool the cake fully first. A warm cake can melt or loosen the icing and make the surface difficult to finish.
How do I check the center?
Use a long cake tester in a deep area away from a chocolate chip. Wet batter means it needs longer; melted chocolate alone needs a second test elsewhere.
More Recipes to Try
- Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- S’mores Cookie Bars
- Large Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Soft Centers
- Cake Mix Pumpkin Bread with Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Buttermilk Tube Cake with Thick Cocoa Icing
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter Softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour Spoon and level
- 1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder Sifted
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 cup dry instant chocolate pudding mix Measured dry; do not prepare
- 2 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon butter Additional, for greasing the pan
Chocolate icing
- 1/2 cup water For icing, not cake batter
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder Sifted
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar Sifted
- up to 3 tablespoons heavy cream Add gradually to reach spreading consistency
Instructions
- Set a conventional oven to 350°F and grease a large 12-cup metal tube pan, coating the center column as well.
- Cream the cup of softened butter with sugar and vanilla. Incorporate the eggs separately.
- Blend cake flour, sifted cocoa, baking soda, salt, and dry instant pudding powder. Add this mixture alternately with buttermilk, then fold in chocolate chips.
- Transfer to the pan without exceeding about two-thirds of its capacity. Bake 30 minutes at 350°F, lower to 325°F, and bake another 30–40 minutes or until a deep tester finds no raw batter.
- Wait 20 minutes before carefully releasing the cake. Let it become fully cool on a rack.
- For icing, melt butter with water and vanilla in a saucepan. Off the burner, mix in cocoa and powdered sugar, then add cream a little at a time, up to 3 tablespoons, to obtain a spreading texture.
- Allow icing to cool to warm and spread it across the cold cake. Let it settle before cutting 16 slices.
