I love this cake. In most recipes, you can reduce it by 25% without changing a whole lot. I adore this cake and make it (or one of its differently sized cousins) constantly (and will be making it tomorrow for a bake sale on Friday!) The frosting was fantastic, creamy and smooth using the food processor. Would that work? Id use flour or cornstarch instead of cocoa (or half of each) and white instead of brown sugar. Not sure if you still think this would be worthwhile, but if you were to do it, I would -totally- use it. Great texture! And its the perfect size to not hurt yourself :). As it was, I managed to stop after one so thered be plenty left when my peeps come home from school and work. I can relate, as I was dry sick when growing each of my two little people. I found it on the website and then also in her second cookbook so I figured it was a winner from the get go. Dutch-process cocoa (the standard in European brands) differs from natural cocoa (what you have if your cocoa isnt labeled Dutch, or if its an American brand) in that its acidity has been neutralized to form a darker, nuttier cocoa that I prefer. How this the cake so fudgy and the icing so irresistibly fluffy? (The cake is good too, dont get me wrong.) So I googled smitten kitchen chocolate cake, and when I saw the name of the recipe, I knew it was the one. This is definitely my go to frosting..will never need another. I know you have other vanilla frosting recipes but I love making this one in the food processorso easy and the texture is great. Thank you so much. ), the perfect cake to whip up the night before youve decided to take cake to celebrate 2 years at your current job (woot!) The ingredients & method are straightforward. Thank you, this one will become a regular go-to recipe for sure!! It might be worth making another one (oh, the hardship!) Should the butter quantity for the frosting be 1/2 cup or 4 oz? Which means that its time for me to actually make it instead of just admiring the photos. Rebecca Here you go. Going to make this this weekend for my nephews birthday. I just tasted one of the chunks (for research, clearly, not as an excuse to have cake for breakfast ;) ) and its sugar!! Thank you for sharing a great recipe! but because when I found my perfect one-bowl chocolate cake (which weve made as an everyday loaf, then riffed as a fudgy layered sheet cake and red wine chocolate wonder, I promise, I can stop anytime) and ridiculously easy fudgy chocolate buttercream, there was no need to keep looking. Guests arrived and I had to stir the risotto and I forgot all about the cake until almost 40 minutes in. . I found that the coffee version took slightly longer in my oven, but produced the most delicious moistness. Its a winner. It rarely is in my experience, often because there are other acidic ingredients in the mix (here, buttermilk, even eggs, brown and white sugar are slightly so). I was skeptical that such a simple recipe could produce such an amazing cake BUT IT DID. fatty fat fat. I agree with Aunt Vixen. It was GREAT! I should have listened to your original notes and checked it a few minutes sooner it was a tad dry, which was completely my fault. Thanks for the spot-on recipe and the best chocolate cake Ive eaten in a long time. I dont have any dutched cocoa but used regular ghiradelli coca and it came out just fine (threw in a handful of extra chocolate baking chips for good measure). Just checking in now again because it always takes so much longer to bake. I am so thankful for a smaller cake recipe. In a small saucepan, melt your butter over medium heat, stirring for even cooking. Your cake saved the day! Here, Ive slimmed the base and dropped a little sugar to make a thin chocolate cake layer and topped it with an unholy, unapologetic amount of frosting. Thank youit looks so good though! The Double Chocolate Layer Cake is amazing, as is the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cakes cake layers (although I prefer the Double Layer) but this just wins. I want real cake made with real butter and real sugar and good chocolate, I just try to limit portion size. Cupcakes bake for 14 to 18 minutes. No extra dish, too. How many servings approximately? What did I do wrong?!?! I made this and it was so delicious! Ha! Making a commenting account just to say this is now my favourite chocolate cake recipe. Made this today and although I am not a great fan of chocolate I do really like this one. Probably need to stick to 20 min. If youre looking for some detailed troubleshooting tips on dry cake, this is a site I go to often for baking tips, and has some guidance: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/prevent-dry-dense-cake/. THanks! I love your best birthday cake with the chocolate sour cream frosting, but tonight I wanted chocolate cake, so I thought this was the appropriate recipe to try. We celebrated National Chocolate Cake day with this recipe, and it did not disappoint! Congrats and thanks for this recipe! (It says it on this package.) So moist and chocolatey. Exact same pregnancy cravings, as I sit here eating another PB on English muffin. All my friends at work will love me though- if it doesnt make a believer out of me, as they will profit from my experiment. This will be my go to chocolate cake recipe! Thanks for another winner!! miso sweet potato and broccoli bowl. I have some bars of Bakers chocolate and clumsily didnt label them bittersweet or semisweet or unsweetened. Looks yummy. even a day later (made it on day one, frosted it day two) it was starting to dry out. I was just about to make a batch of chocolate fudge, but now Im torn. Turned out great! website "Around here, we sometimes make (one-bowl, intense, perfectly crumbed) chocolate cake just because it's Wednesday. Or have them page by page. I will force feed it to my colleagues tomorrow. This cake was really delicious and quick to make, which I appreciated. I use a timer, but I really rely on the old toothpick test, which rarely lets me down. Sometimes that mixture is too thin, but in this case, it was fine. 3. It helps the flour soak up moisture and makes things much better! I want chocolate cake! Hope to help. (And chocolate leftovers with excess icing for me! Rich as can be, uber chocolate-y, not overly sweet (an absolute hallmark of all Smitten Kitchen cakes, and why her cake recipes are THE BEST). Great recipe. What a great idea. I MUST HAVE CHOCOLATE CAKE. My son is 7 months old and the craving still pops up now and then. Beautiful, btw. I also topped the cake with my own chocolate whipped ganache as I needed to use up my heavy whipping cream. Looks amazing, making this today (because quarantine). I put about a teaspoon of cloves into the dry ingredients sometimes. Your safest bet might be more of a ganache, which doesnt need to be whipped, only stirred. Even my usually anti-cake husband liked it, which is saying a lot. I want that cake with peanut butter cream cheese buttercream frostingright now! I was a bit worried when I added the buttermilk and it went quite lumpy, but I guess thats what you meant by uneven. Speed this up by placing it outside for 10 minutes (thanks, winter!). Thank you so much Deb. Congratulations and prayers for much joy, many full nights of sleep, and lots of laughter and cuddles! First, the butter wouldnt cream with the sugars {its pretty cold here at the moment, and room temperature was well below what it should have been.) This was my first experience with Valrhona cocoa power. The result is a perfect pick-me-up cake on a weeknight. . You cant beat chocolate cake and this one looks incredible, Deb. Thanks again! However, I am making a cake that has to be white. I cant see the notes regarding the buttermilk options. Put all in the freezer to flash freeze and called it a night. You also ruined me with Dutch processed cocoa. Thank you. it actually reminds me of carvel frosting a little and i mean that in the best possible way. How did it taste in the end? When I warned the batter might look uneven, this is what I meant. @smittenkitchen smitten kitchen . Truly next level. This cake is a delight. Instead of the buttercream I frosted it with a half batch of the seven-minute frosting from the King Arthur website and drizzled with chocolate ganache, but I definitely kept the rainbow sprinkles :). I know that you do them by hand right now, and I totally admire your patience with that, hence the q :). Just made this amazing cake for myself for my birthday and want to thank you for the gift the most foolproof recipe ever. I didnt know that was even possible. Though it tasted sweet enough. I made this yesterday with normal cocoa (didnt have Dutch process) and 70% dark chocolate for the frosting (didnt have unsweetened, and neither did Yes market when I went out on purpose) and it is still delish. I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 913 for 40 minutes, came out perfect. Megan 10-inch round or square? Hi Deb: Finally, this is my note to selfat 25 minutes the cake needed another few minutes, I left it in for 6 minutes, and that was too long, and maybe should have been 3 more minutes. Sometimes Im like Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when it comes to chocolate. I make my vanilla one in the food processor too. It smells like heaven, and is exactly the kind of evening we needed. Thank you! Not that I wont eat it :-D. Thanks so much Deb! I made a double layer round train track cake fir my sons birthday. Thank you very much on the fantastic recipe! Still, much better by then. I doubled the recipe (cake and frosting) and it made 24 perfect cupcakes. At seven weeks (for the third time), I both totally understand these intense cravings and cant tell if I actually want this cake or not. I`ll use a 6 inch pan and wondering how to adjust the baking time. :(, So sad, but the frosting is the best i have ever tried and made so far. My absolute hands down favorite chocolate cake recipe is your chocolate stout cake. Sorry for the late response, even after such a nice comment! So that doesnt count, right? I turned to google and opted to add shredded [unsweetened] coconut 1 T at a time, probably going over by a 1/2 to a T. The frosting was good but a bit stiff. ), but it was reading the word chocolate for, what, maybe the 57th time in one post, while reading the list of ingredients that finally got me. :). Could I make the frosting a raspberry buttercream by putting in raspberry pure or jam instead of chocolate? I made it with wine, and its a big hit (the leftoverssince I made the 913 and served it after a huge meal are being consumed at work now). Perfect swirls! Hi- Do you think whole wheat pastry flour would work in this recipe? This is now our go-to recipe for any kind of chocolate cake. I love that I dont have to go to five different grocery stores to find the ingredients. Lifes too short to do that. Beat butter, powdered sugar and salt, if using, in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. It turned out rather thick, but spreadable, and so delicious. :). Il try a simple ganache next time i bake it for myself. I thought that there would be too much frosting, but no! We had a lot of fun, and the frosting is the best I have ever had in my entire life (she insisted I write that, its all I could repeat after eating it!). So, made this today in honor of my little girls birthday (and of course shes too young for this, thus the in honor part). Also, Deb, keep doing what youre doing! ug that looks amazing!! -replaced the buttermilk with red wine (I thought the cake was perfect by itself; kids wanted frosting; I ate cake and frosting separately and was in heaven!) Just looking at these pictures makes me feel the urgency. And with that, I can hear the pitter-patter of my diets feet making itself scarce as I reach for more butter. Kudos to you for taking the time to snap the beautiful pics before digging in!!! If round, 8. It added up to a 65 lb. thank you! Many people had seconds. I am definitely making and eating this on the weekend. I like the ease of this cake; every now and again I too just crave something like this mid-week, but dont feel like making a whole thing out of it. It turned grainy or separated or something. Its less expensive and bakes pretty well. Thanks for sharing! anyway I came here looking for the fudgy chocolate cake recipe, that I used for cupcakes a couple months ago. So you cream the butter & sugar, then add egg and the buttermilk. Overall, absolutely delightful and delicious and will definitely enter my cake rotation. Melt semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and espresso powder in a double boiler until smooth. I liked your frosting a lot, but the chocolate didnt fully emulsify. Made this cake GF for our babysitter (our policy is to always have something freshly baked for a sitter) by subbing out regular flour for Pamelas all-purpose GF flour. Older one is old enough to be helpful, and old enough to go to school while you have lots of time (and naps) with the new one. Can you explain how you choose a pan when doubling a recipe? We were sitting around with a bit of wine and a roasted cauliflower tonight, thinking about what to do for the night; we are homebodies, Friday basically is equal to Tuesday in my mind and CAKE! Didnt bother to sift even though cocoa was lumpy and it was fine. Seriously, $4. Sweet Jesus this cake is so good that I have died and gone to chocolate heaven. You can bake this into 10 to 12 cupcakes! P.P.S I have the rainbow confetti sprinkles on order as I write because, well, rainbow confetti sprinkles.! In a large bowl, use a hand or stand mixer to beat the butter and sugars until fluffy; scrape down bowl. I needed a piece of chocolate cake so badly that I began to regret every cupcake shop Id ever walked past and not gone in during the height of the mid-aughts cupcake craze. Your site is consistently the best food site on the entire internet. Scoop batter into prepared pan and smooth flat. As soon as my daughter took a bite she said Mom, can we make this cake again? The only change we made was using regular non-Dutch cocoa because that is what we had on hand not sure how it changed the flavor because I have only had it this way, which was excellent. Fingers crossed! pps, is there a softening butter hack? I been looking for flat sheet cake recipes; thank you so much Deb. This will be the first time hes been away for his birthday. Two thumbs up. Dear hubs just made me two flower beds where I was hoping he would so I can plant morning glories and sunflowers I started from seedhe deservs this cake! It all came together rather quickly on a weekday evening too. It will be harder to get butter/sugar fluffy, though not impossible. I know better than that. And she had marked so many pages with little pink tabs! The results were excellent. thank you deb, anne, and JP! Well, this looks just perfect. Note to self: Keep cake ingredients and directions separate from frosting info. (This is a 75% volume of that, so it wont fill out a loaf as well. (yes, for breakfast!) For anyone curious, I cooked them at 15 minutes and it was just about perfect Id do 12-15 minutes for cupcakes to be safe! One variation I have made a few times (for grown up cake-eaters) is to swap the milk for Baileys salted caramel. About six weeks ago, around 9 p.m. on a day I had consumed mostly air and maybe a slice of toast because I couldnt for the life of me imagine how food had ever tasted good, without any warning, I wanted a slice of chocolate cake with swirls of chocolate frosting and probably some sprinkles and the sprinkles, so help them, better be rainbow. Oh my goodness! How much sugar can I reduce in this cake? How well do you think it would hold up in a totally round pan (like the Wilton Sports Ball pan)? Frosting issues It sounds like some food processors are indeed warming the frosting up a little, and making it grainy. Id limit it to a couple tablespoons as it will be pretty wet, and personally, I prefer to strain raspberry purees to get rid of the seeds, but I think they bother me more than they bother other people. You think it might have anything to do with the 20 tabs of different chocolate cake recipes I have open on the computer? Chocolate cake was a frequent visitor to my kitchen in those days. and it was AMAZING. It was 10 and I had worked hard all day. We love so many of your recipes in our housewe literally make your Favorite Brownies at least a few times a month (my husband somehow remains just as excited every time). I love your little person for inspiring you to post this. Ive made this twice now and its definitely in rotation as a birthday cake cake. These, with the addition of the 66% baking chocolate chips will be my go to chocolate cupcakes from now on. The texture is great, and its a superb idea to use real chocolate. Ill never buy it from a store again. Mmmm yum. To the second batch I added guittards 66% chocolate baking chips. Could I sub cake flour for ap flour? Thank you! Hi Deb I tried decreasing the sugar to 1 cup and replacing it with 1/4 cup cocoa. i always leave some out in case of a sudden urge or need to bake or for bread buttering needs, and while its not fridge hard, it is not at all baking soft/room temp. I really could have used this recipe last night! I would like to order it. Ive made the peanut butter one several times (with and without the frosting+ganache) and love how moist it is, although I do reduce the sugar quite a bit and almost double the cocoa powder. Its really easy, a mostly one-bowl cake and frosting. The cake came out fine, but the batter was just that pourable batter, not the spreadable, brownie batter-like kind in your photo. Would aquafaba work to replace eggs (vegan version)? We just finished my husbands favorite chocolate cake, which is my Moms recipe for chocolate mayonnaise cake (dont laughits outrageously good), but yours sounds even better. And the frosting is superb and so quick. Every year I make my kids half a cake for their half birthday and this made a PERFECT half double layer cake. cupcakes? Funny, I am so the I need chocolate cake now kind of person, and it has nothing to do with hormonal cravings. Life changing! Held up great and was perfect. Rebekah describes this perfectly deep chocolate flavour, not too sweet, very easy to mix up and bake I loved the frosting this is my new chocolate frosting. I subbed joghurt for the buttermilk and reduced sugar to 100 g (sorry my German taste buds cant handle the original sweetness ) and used white spelt flour instead of wheat flour. I just baked it for my friends birthday and everybody loved it. Hey Deb! I think SmittenKitchen is AT LEAST 10% of the reason why my fiance proposed to me. Thank you! I call it my short on time, big on love cake, perfect for celebrations. Ill try it again without the modification. Burnt to a crisp: Did you use the longest baking time? And as the cake was baking in the oven, I discovered I did not have any unsweetened chocolate. 3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk (see Notes for other options) Oh Deb, as I am now a little over 4 months pregnant, I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that our cravings are in sync. So yummy! Good luck with Elmo! Thanks for the recipe! Jane M Ugh, I give up. Love the single layer recipe. Thanks! Erin Was the chocolate completely and totally cool, i.e. Lovely, Deb, thank you. My friend said the word cake to me today and I could not get it out of my head. I made this twice for 2 dozen cupcakesafter making the 1st dozen and seeing how DELICIOUS they are, theres no way 1 dozen would be enough!! This is my husbands birthday cake today! I was a little worried as Im a beginner baker but it was a total hit!! I am trying this right now but my cake is still chocolaty ( dippy ) from the middle. My husband cut us each 2 small pieces and then stacked them on top of each other for a double layer piece of cake. Step 4. It worked, and the toddlers had no problem with it. This will definitely be in my regular rotation of dessert recipes. At 11 weeks, mine are fish (every kind except the rare tuna salad sandwich), risotto or risotto-like creations, and chocolate in most forms. Thoughts on a little white vinegar in regular milk to make buttermilk? What is you favorite kind to eat? Kim Whooooops! You can keep it at room temperature if youd like. 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract Any suggestions or ideas you might have would be much appreciated! I only realized the mistake after another comment about having the recipe add an additional yolk! My baking-phobic girlfriend made this for my birthday. I could easily see this being a go-to recipe for last minute parties its fast, easy to make, and a definite crowd pleaser. I love this cake basically my platonic ideal of what chocolate cake should be. Or, what I do more often is if youre using a stand mixer anyway, just cut it into chunks and let the paddle soften it. This was so good. I used self-raising flour and half a tsp of baking powder. Fran- Use a combination of coffee and fake buttermilk( equivalent amount of soy milk+1tsp of apple cider vinegar. My sister cooks a lot and makes good cakes. Beat it on high, scrape down the bowl, beat it some more, etc, until its mixable. Think I might have to healthify and recreate! Meanwhile, you should make this one; its not very sweet and quite moist. My question with brown butter in baked goods is always the same: can you taste it? My baking tome was slightly less, but I always consider baking times rough estimates. Thanx For Sharing this recipes. Category Chocolate. Today my work email was hacked and my computer was down for several hours so I baked this cake, because obviously it was a day that NEEDED CAKE. However, I did substitute a glaze of orange marmalade instead of the buttercream frosting, since I was fresh out of butter, so maybe that sugar balanced it out. Hi! Was a bit nervous as we were having lunch at a v nice Italian restaurant and then coming back here for cake, but neednt have worried massive win and everybody demanded the recipe. Add one-third of the 1 1/4 cup (155g . I just made this using a homemade paleo mix of almond flour, arrowroot flour and coconut flour (in a 3:2:1 proportion I did 300 gm almond flour, 200 gm arrowroot flour and 100 gm coconut flour to create the mix, then took the exact amount of flour in the recipe). It looks incredible. Did you see the Tasting Table chocolate cake recipe from a few days ago? Susan Wait, howww? This looks amazing Deb what a perfect cake! Would it be possible to switch the frosting to vanilla? An exceedingly cute mini-cake! How did you stacked cake turn out? Thank you, Deb, for all you do! For the buttermilk substitution, could you use stout in this? Much tastier and more fun than the box mix I was about to do instead. I didnt use this frosting as I had some swiss meringue buttercream left over from a previous baking session, but am looking forward to using this frosting recipe in the future :-) Thanks so much! The wine and cocoa married so well in this cake. Here I am, all alone in my studio apartmentwith this damn scrumptious cake. Love love love it! So in the batter went, and crossed the fingers were. I thought that I might use this for a birthday cake. Obviously the sizes are different, but is one more chocolaty, moist, etc? Frosting in the food processor?!!! Must make! Definitely a keeper, thanks! whole wheat chocolate oat cookies. i did also back off on the sugar this time i didnt measure but i would guestimate about a cup vs 1.5 cups. Finish with rainbow sprinkles; dont even fight it. I always have cocoa on hand, but rarely unsweetened chocolate so I always go this route and it works well. This was fun to make and eat for my first gathering with a friend post-vaccination. Congrats you just made brownies.. really? Pamela I mention concerns about Dutched cocoa under the recipe. Had Hersheys cocoa on hand and the cake did not disappoint. I cant wait to get all the ingredients and bake this cake! The salt in the frosting is the perfect touch. Toni Yes, same as the Monkey Cake. Chocolatey, soft-textured but not crumbly, sweet but not overpowering. Well, I only made the frosting, not the cake (I put this frosting on a box yellow cake) but this is truly the best frosting I have ever made. good luck and thanks for the beautiful cake! belgian brownie cakelets. Do I reduce the confectioners sugar? Best chocolate cake ever! Cant wait to try the finished product. I doubled the cake recipe and it made a perfect amount of cake in a buttered, bake and serve 9 x 13 glass pan. Im planning to make this into cupcakes for a birthday party, but Ill need to make at least 4 dozen, and have only one pan. No bears there then? For a summer party I baked triple the amount on a large tray, with mascarpone raspberry topping. Does it truly not matter? Make these for someone you love today! To make the soft gooey layer, in a small bowl, whisk together the corn syrup or golden syrup with the milk or cream, and vanilla. Depending on the recipe, you can melt the butter or shortening and mix in the cocoa until smooth, or just add it to the ingredients as is if it works (like in frosting). Might just need more time? Ingredients Makes 12-16 servings Cake: 1 cup (8 ounces or 230 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract 2/3. I felt bonded to this woman Id never met through your cookbook. I compare sizes using the area of the bottom of the cake pan, because generally when youre doubling or scaling up a recipe, youd like the cake layers to be the same height, just bigger. No, the recipe is correct and what youve written is not. My daughter is already asking for her birthday to make the SAME! I didnt have buttermilk so I mixed one TBS of lemon juice with 3/4 c whole milk. But Deb, thats how much you inspire me! Actually as a followup to Aunt Vixens post 245, I too had to extend the cooking time. As luck would have it, my husbands birthday is tomorrow, so Im using this occasion as my excuse! 3/4 cup (145 grams) firmly packed dark brown sugar The melted chocolate had cooled a little but was not chunky when I poured it in. And I love the suggestion of sour cream thinned with coffee sounds like my kinda cake!! My hubby loved it for his decadent birthday surprise! Quick question! Have a great one Deb! Deb, today is my husbands 84th birthday and chocolate cake is his request. The frosting is also wonderful! My question: my daughter wants a chocolate-strawberry cake for her birthday. Do I still need to mix dry ingredients separately first? Seriously good. Any tips for a frosting I could make with a whisk or does that just not work for frosting? I used a whisk to mix the not really lumpy cocoa. The perfect antidote to absolutely needing a chocolate fix. I will also add that the cake batter is delicious by itself so I enjoyed risking a bit of salmonella and licking my spatula during the clean up. Thanks for taking time out to respond so quickly, Deb! I also used to subscribe to the view that cake is just a vehicle for icingand then I made this cake. Regrets: I have many. Thanks. I dont know if anyone else experienced this, but I attempted to process it the 1-2 minutes, and something happened to it. 1 /2 cup / 63 g all-purpose flour The batter is a touch saltier but I like that in a layer against such a sweet frosting. Quick question: my cocoa is not lumpy at all. At grocery stores, I find Droste to be very solid for a dutch-process. Its just like the soft, fluffy chocolate buttercream frosting I used to get on cupcakes from my old favorite cupcake shop, which I always wished I could replicate at home. Thanks :). Finally did and Im disappointed. but this cake is such a nice size, with a good frosting-to-cake ratio. Yes, but it is not needed to make this cake tender/plush. Even my pregnancy-addled, not-right-tin-having self didnt mess it up. Anyways, good luck! I reduced the total sugar to 270g (so 135g in the original size), made it GLUTEN FREE by using brown rice flour, and also used rice milk soured with lime juice in place of the buttermilk. I love the rich chocolate flavor. If only I had enough patience to wait to make a cake until today. WrittenPyramids Glad it was a hit. Thanks, Deb!!!!!! 1. Sincere apologies if I missed the one for a 6 pan. So making this! Thank you for the laughs and the chocolate as I wrap up my hell week! HOLY HELL, its fantastic. Totally respect that! blueberry crumb cake. I was convinced by your cake spiel that I, a novice baker, too could make a cake but have been let down twice. Aarthi I havent, but it sounds really good. had all the ingredients and im one happy MOM! I am looking for a chocolate cake to make with raspberry filling, because your double chocolate layer cake has inspired me. I was worried that it would be dry as most of the cakes that I make from scratch are, but it isnt at all. OMG. Your one-bowl chocolate cake is PERFECTION. Have you ever made the King Arthur cake pan cake? Delicious! Must try! Coconut oil works great here so I hope this helps someone else in the making. I made this tonight and used your suggestion of red wine and yogurt if youre out of buttermilk. I found it in March, around when quarantine started and for a couple of months, I made it every Saturday to celebrate another week of quarantine. I have steadily leaned on SK since I started baking and cooking 15 years ago.