Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi Paul, i love your chocolate cake and i want to try it but i can’t find Butter milk to Buy. Can i use cream milk?

Hi phinaotemu

You can make your own buttermilk by adding either 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar to 1 cup of slightly warm milk. Let it sit for a few minutes and when it has curdled you have buttermilk. I never buy buttermilk any more, it’s so easy to make at home. Just use your regular milk. Hope this helps.

Hi MIWL, that’s a fabulous tip, thank you! Does it have to be full fat milk? We generally use semi-skimmed at home…..would that work just as well?

Hi fpts4

It doesn’t have to be full fat, I use skimmed milk, it just isn’t quite as thick as when made with full fat or semi skimmed. The main thing is that you’re adding liquid. x

Thanks for the tip,it will really help a lot. Can i use baking powder instead of the bicarb soda?

Hi phinaotemu

I have never tried using baking powder instead of baking soda in this recipe. The baking soda is an additional leavening which helps create carbon dioxide bubbles to lift the batter and neutralize acidity. If you look here http://www.thekitchn.com/baking-soda-and-baking-powder-103763 the explanation is better than I can give, I hope you find it useful. x

Bit late here for the original poster, but for those searching I’ve just bought buttermilk at Waitrose. It’s sat with all the other creams.

I have used natural yoghurt before, worked fine!