I have never cooked with buttermilk before but have often come across it in recipes, especially pancakes, so the other day whilst in the supermarket I bought some.

From what I've read buttermilk is the liquid left over from churning butter from cream, but doesn't contain any butter. and it is fabulous because it has a very low fat content and due to it's slightly acidic taste it great in recipes as it reacts with the raising agents in cakes, bread, etc to create that light airy texture.

According to Wikipediathe benefits of buttermilk are:

Cultured buttermilk is lower in fat and calories than regular milk because the fat from buttermilk has already been removed to make butter. It is high in potassium, vitamin B12 and calcium. Buttermilk is more easily digestible than whole milk and it also contains more lactic acid than skim milk. Due to being more easily digestible (a result of the bacteria added to the milk), protein and calcium can be taken up more easily by the body. There are 99 kilocalories and 2.2 grams of fat in one cup of buttermilk (fat content may be different with some buttermilk brands, as some brands are made with skim milk while others are made with reduced fat milk), as opposed to whole milk that has 157 kilocalories and 8.9 grams of fat

The point is I'm a convert!

Gluten Free Scallywag Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

1 cup Gluten Free Flour

1 cup castor sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup hot water

1/4 cup cocoa, sifted

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 tblspn espresso (or 1/2 tsp instant and 1 tblspn water)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp bi-carb soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

With an electric mixer cream the butter, cocoa and sugar until combined.Add the hot water and mix together thoroughly.

Sift the Gluten Free flour, salt, bi-carb and baking powder. Add some of the flour and the egg; mix until just combined. Alternate mixing in the remaining flour and the buttermilk. Add coffee and vanilla and mix until combined.

Pour into cupcake pans (I made 24 mini cupcakes and 2x3 1/2 inch bundt cakes) or I should imagine an 8in round cake tin (but I haven't tested that!). Note: the mixture is quite wet and the cupcakes may bake out of shape. I always put the cupcake patty pans into a cupcake tin to avoid this.

Bake in a 180deg oven for approximately 8-10mins for mini cupcakes and 20mins for bundt cakes. A larger cake will need to have the time adjusted, but I'm yet to test this (will repost a time when I do!)

This cake was beautifully moist and as it was going to be eaten relatively quickly I simply dusted icing sugar on top, there's just

something

about bundt cakes dusted with icing sugar.

My man took the little cupcakes to work the next day and I packaged some up for an ex-boss whose birthday was on the 19th (my other ex-boss born on the same day is lactose intolerant so unfortunately she missed out!). Well, they were a hit at work and my old boss called me to say they were delish - don't ya just love positive feedback?!?

The last one was eaten last night and considering they were baked on Tuesday night, kept well, slightly drier but if it had been iced it wouldn't have lost that moisture.

I recommend a thin chocolate icing drizzled over the top if icing is required. Serve with cream or icecream and a some berry compote.

...or just 'as is' like we did at 10pm in the below photo!