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Everyone flips over this moist, delicious buttermilk cake with a fabulous pecan topping and crisp, candy-glazed edges. After the first bite, they beg for the recipe. They never believe how EASY it is!
If your friends and family are anything like mine, the first bite of this Easy Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake will have them swooning, moaning, sighing and/or saying "Oh, my gosh!".
I saw a picture of this buttermilk cake in an email from King Arthur Flour. The cake looked fabulous and I loved the rustic, charming name. I tried the recipe a while back when some friends were coming for lunch. Being a bit lazy (and always in a hurry), I simplified it to involve just one bowl and no mixer. I've been making it ever since, always to rave reviews.
It's such a winner! When a recipe is REALLY good my husband calls it "candy", (even if it's meat or veggies!). This cake can definitely be labeled as "candy" both literally and figuratively! The cake is super moist with lots of flavor, and the topping reminds us of a delicious combination of sticky buns and pecan pie. And then there's that thin candy-like glaze that forms on the edges as the cake bakes, you can see what I mean in the picture below.
How quick and easy is this buttermilk cake?
It's actually ridiculously easy! That's how we label recipes here at The Café that take minimal effort on your part while making you look like a kitchen rock star. You can read more about our collection of Ridiculously Easy recipes (yes, we have a whole series of these super easy recipes) in this post but below is an example of just how easy this recipe is:
A while back, our granddaughter, Elle, was in a play. Her older sister, Annie (12 at the time) stayed at home while we attended the 40-minute performance since she had already seen it. Annie started this buttermilk cake recipe as we were leaving for the play and, by the time we returned, it was done! It was gorgeous and later, when we indulged in Annie's cake, everyone agreed that this dessert was definitely "blog-worthy" (the highest accolade in our family!).
We've also made a video demonstrating that this Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake truly does earn that Ridiculously Easy moniker. Check it out:
What is buttermilk and what kind should I buy?
Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. This type of buttermilk is now specifically referred to as traditional buttermilk. The fermented dairy product that is widely available these days at most groceries and markets is cultured buttermilk.
Cultured buttermilk is regular dairy milk that has been inoculated with an acidic culture. The acidic culture simulates the naturally occurring bacteria in the traditional product. The result is the characteristic sour taste of buttermilk as well as a thicker product. Sometimes you'll notice flecks of butter in purchased buttermilk. This is actually butter which has been added by the dairy to simulate the residual flecks of butter that are often leftover when churning traditional buttermilk.
If you check out the dairy shelves of your local grocery, you'll notice that buttermilk comes in two varieties, whole milk, and low fat. The difference is just as the names imply: whole milk buttermilk is made from whole milk and the low fat from skim or 1% milk.
So which should you buy? That's really just a matter of personal preference. I prefer the whole milk variety when baking, but either one will result in a delicious buttermilk cake with this recipe.
And if you're in a pinch, you can even make your own buttermilk. Check out the Café Tips below for simple instructions.
How do I love thee, oh Easy Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake? Let me count the ways...
- Your recipe is so simple: combine butter and sugar in a bowl, add buttermilk and egg. Stir. Sprinkle dry ingredients over the top, mix, then transfer batter to a pan. Bake. While the cake finishes up in the oven, make the easy topping in the same bowl. Pour topping over the cake and bake a little longer. Cool and ENJOY!
- Your tender, moist crumb is amazing!
- There's your pecan-praline-like topping, perfectly complementing the light, delicate texture of the cake.
- Oh my! I love the way the topping seeps down the sides of the cake in the oven, caramelizing and becoming candylike in texture.
- You freeze beautifully so you're a great recipe to make ahead for guests.
- I love that you're crazy delicious whether served warm or at room temperature.
- You can be dressed up or down (with ice cream, whipped cream, powdered sugar, etc.) making you perfect for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner!
Café Tips for making this Easy Farmhouse Buttermilk Cake
- Be sure to use a 9-inch cake pan for this buttermilk cake. Round cake pans also come in 8-inch which would be too small and could cause a mess in the oven. For good results, use a straight-sided, fairly heavyweight cake pan. I really like these pans from OXO.
- If your 9-inch pan is shorter than this, you could use a springform pan.
- I love to add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt after this cake is baked and has cooled for 15-20 minutes. This is totally optional, but if you like salty-sweet, be sure to try this. I use Maldon Sea Salt. It's the sea salt preferred by many chefs. Maldon is a flaky sea salt meaning that it's flat and flaky rather than crystalline in structure, like other sea salts. It's a finishing salt; in other words, it's used as the finishing step rather than as a seasoning when cooking. It's more expensive than other salt, but a box will last a long time. To use Maldon, just take a pinch in your fingers and rub them together over the food. This will cause the large flakes to break apart into smaller pieces.
- Because this recipe doesn't use an electric mixer, the butter should be VERY soft. Leave it sit at room temperature for several hours or use a microwave at 10% power (for 30 to 90 seconds, depending on the power of your microwave) to soften your butter.
- No buttermilk? No problem! Just add one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup. Fill with milk to measure one cup. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, then proceed with recipe.
- This buttermilk cake can be made 8-10 hours in advance and stored at room temperature.
- Have extra buttermilk after making this cake? Try out our Ridiculously Easy Buttermilk Biscuits or these Easy Buttermilk Brioche Buns. You'll find yourself buying buttermilk on a regular basis!
- If you're feeding a crowd, double the recipe and bake the cake in a 9x13-inch pan.
- Don't skip lining the pan with parchment if you want to be able to easily remove the cake from the pan. If you want to serve the cake right from the pan, you can just grease the pan and skip the parchment paper. I love these pre-cut parchment paper circles but you can also cut your own (see image below).
Everyone flips over this moist, delicious buttermilk cake and, after the first bite, they beg for the recipe. No one believes how EASY it is!
- ¼ cup butter very soft
- 1 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup diced pecans
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9" round cake pan (with at least 2-inch tall sides) with baking spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Combine the butter and brown sugar and stir until well combined (the mixture will not be fluffy at this point).
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Add the egg, stirring until nice and smooth.
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Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla extract until well combined.
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Sprinkle the flour, baking soda and salt evenly over the top and stir until well combined.
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Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
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Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and/or the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center.
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During the last 10 minutes of baking time, prepare the topping. Stir the butter and the sugar together. Add the milk, pecans, and salt. The glaze will be thick, but pourable.
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After the cake has baked for 30 minutes, pour the topping over the cake and return it to the oven for another 10 minutes (for a total baking time of 40 minutes). Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes in the pan. Sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt, if desired and serve warm or at room temperature. Topping will firm up as the cake cools.
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Cake can be served in the pan or on a serving platter or cake stand. To serve on a platter, invert cake onto a dinner-size plate then invert again so that topping is up.
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Joanne Harris says
This cake is too good. I used a 9x9” square pan. Cooking time was the same. I will definitely recommend!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Joanne! We appreciate you taking the time to share your results!
Pam says
Great recipe! The cake came out moist and it was so easy! I'm not a nuts girl so my next one will be with cream cheese frosting.
Amy says
This is a delicious cake. I had a couple small technical issues, you know - things that can't be quantified in a recipe like the humidity level in our rainy climate, flour weight, the husband swiping some of my room temp butter for his bread...so I had to add a smidge more buttermilk to thin the batter. In so doing, the set result was quite delicate so when I poured the topping over the cake I could not spread it because it sank in place wherever I glopped it. Now, mind you I am not complaining because this created a beautifully marbled praline top and a very moist interior. So, in summary, this recipe is very good and quite forgiving.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Amy! So happy you enjoyed it, despite all the variables!
Linda R. says
I also had some buttermilk to use up, and the ingredients for this cake really spoke to me! For some reason, however, the cake never set in the middle. I baked it an additional 15 minutes followed by 15 more minutes using the convection setting. Still the consistency of a pudding style cake. The taste is great, but will probably throw the middle away and just eat the crispy outside.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Linda, so sorry you had problems with this recipe. I hate wasting good ingreidnets.
It's difficult to say what went wrong without having been right there in the kitchen with you. I would encourage you to try it again sometime as there are so many stellar reviews, not only here, but also over on the King Arthur site where this recipe is from.
CatG says
Absolutely wonderful way to use up extra buttermilk. I used whole milk instead of half and half with no ill effects to the topping. Thank you and I too will add this to my recipe book. Even my non-cake loving husband ate a whole slice.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for sharing your review, Cat! It is a delicious way to use up that extra buttermilk!
Mr. Naveb says
Yea! At least one recipe I made today gave me joy and it was this one. (off topic.. Samin's buttermilk chicken is so overrated).
I must admit I did make some pretty drastic changes to the recipe but it was still very tasty. Sorry, I left off the topping. Boring to some but to me just a simple and tasty cake to go with some chamomile tea.
Oh, where is the opt out option policy described in your privacy policy? eg. Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
Chris Scheuer says
Hi, so happy you enjoyed this cake.
The privacy policy button should come up before you leave a comment if you've never been to the site before.
Luvenia says
Hi my family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for posting. I was wondering how long you have frozen the cake and was that with the pecan topping?
Lauren says
I made this for a December birthday and everyone loved it. Even my 6 year old who never likes anything I bake.
Sent the recipe to all my friends- it sis simple and so delicious.
Well done.
Chris Scheuer says
That's awesome, Lauren! I know how those 6 year olds can be! So happy you enjoyed it!
Michelle says
The only round cake pan I have is 7 inch (for instant pot). Would a 9 inch square pan work?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Michelle, a 9-inch square pan will work but the cake won't be as tall.
Kat says
I tried this cake when attempting to use up some leftover buttermilk and was beyond surprised!! Absolutely delicious and I can't wait to try more recipes from here!!
Chris Scheuer says
So happy you ejoyed it, Kat! Welcome to The Café!
Valerie says
Was a huge hit! Didn’t realize I had run out of vanilla extract before starting the recipe, so replaced with almond extract. It was spectacular.
Chris Scheuer says
Yum! Almond extract sounds great! Thanks so much, for sharing your results, Valerie!
Susan says
This hit the top of my list for favorite cake.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Susan!
Barbara says
What is the baking time for a 9x13 pan?
Thanks!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Barbara, the recipe I adapted this cake from was a King Arthur flour recipe and they made it in a 9x13-inch pan. They call for 30-35 minutes. I would test it at 30 and see if it's done.
JZ says
I skipped the topping and instead layered bananas (cut thin length wise, not rounds) and doce de leite (poured half the batter, layered the bananas and drizzled the caramel, then poured the rest of the batter and layered more bananas and drizzled caramel on top) to mimic a Brasilian cake I grew up eating.
And served it with fresh whipped cream.
Delicious!! The cake base was lovely!
Chris Scheuer says
Great adaptations, JZ! Thanks for sharing your results!
Kate says
Should I use raw pecans or toasted pecans?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kate, I use raw pecans as they get toasted in the oven.
igi 3 says
I am not much into reading, but somehow I got to read plenty of articles on your blog.
Joy Brown says
I made this today. Oh my goodness! It's delicious. Definitely a keeper. Thanks.
Chris Scheuer says
👏👏👏 Thanks for sharing your results, Joy!
Ash says
Like some of the other reviewers, I had some leftover buttermilk and came across this recipe. It was so delicious and so easy to make. I loved the addition of the pecan topping, it really completed the cake so beautifully. I will be making this again tomorrow and cannot wait to have a slice! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Ash! I appreciate you taking the time to leave this review! So happy you enjoyed it!
Annora says
I made this twice in one week because i was testing it out for bday. The first time i used raw sugar and it had not set at the cooking time of 30mins yet but I still put the topping on and worked fine though it had a bit of a well so I was worried but it rose again so no worries. Second time around, I used dark brown sugar and it worked much better, was set more and looked better. Both tasted great so that’s what to do if your country doesn’t do ‘light brown sugar’. Oh and also we don’t have half and half so I just substituted with unsalted butter and milk and it worked too.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much Annora, for sharing your results. This will be helpful to other readers!
Janet says
I’m thinking I’ll make this tomorrow! How should I store it, and for how long? Thank you .
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Janet, you can store this cake at room temperature for a day or two. If it will belonger than that, I would freeze it.
Sharlene says
I was looking to use up some butter milk today and came upon this recipe! It has just cooled enough for me to enjoy a piece and I had to come back to leave a review. Not sure how someone would think it was bland. I could smell the beautiful aroma as it baked. It was freaking delicious!!! Full of flavour and so moist! So quick to make with the one bowl method. Loved it and will be adding it to my recipe collection. Thanks so much for sharing 🤤
Chris Scheuer says
You're welcome, Sharlene. It sounds like you had the same reaction to this cake as many of our guests have had 💕 Thanks for sharing your results!
Amy says
I found this recipe because I have buttermilk I need to use up. I cook and bake for a family friend who is quite elderly. Is this a cake that will freeze well?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Amy, yes this cake does freeze well!
Jeanne Monahan says
Absolutely awesome! It was quick and easy, moist and delicious. I added a little vanilla to the pecan topping. Next time I will use a little less brown sugar in the topping, perhaps 1/3 c. instead of a half cup, but the cake and topping are just out of this world yummy. Can't wait to make it again. So glad I found it. Great way to use buttermilk. So quick to make and oh so good. Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Jeanne! I appreciate you taking the time to share your review. 💕
Sandra Longo says
The cake is in the oven as I write this. It smells so delicious and was easy to make. The only thing I am worried about is that I did use a mixer to mix. I hope I didn’t ruin it.
Chris Scheuer says
It's fine to use a mixer, Sandra!
Jody says
Do u think using gluten free 1 to 1 like Bob's Red Mill would work in place of the all-purpose? Also, I'd like to reduce the amount of sugar in the cake without compromising the results. What do u think?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Jody, I can't answer your questions with certainty as I tested this recipe with regular all-purpose flour. Sometimes it works to reduce the sugar in a cake recipe but sometimes the results are less than desirable. Without further testing, I can't say for sure.
Jody says
Where the recipe says combine butter and brown sugar and stir until smooth, is this stirring with a spoon? Or electric hand mixer or whisk?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Jody, you don't need a mixer for this recipe! Just use a whisk or a spoon. Enjoy!
Stephanie Herrera says
This was easy to make and very tasty. I didn't have any pecans so I used dry roasted pistachios. They added great flavor and a little salty touch. Thank you for this delicious recipe.
Chris Scheuer says
Yum! Pistachios sound like a wonderful substitute, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing your review!
Meeta says
Most moist and delicious cake ! The topping added so much flavour with a crunchy texture ! Loved it!
Chris Scheuer says
Yay! I'm so happy you enjoyed this cake as much as we do, Meeta! Thanks for sharing your review!