Last night I baked a spice cake using buttermilk in the recipe. The cake came out very dry. In the past when making red velvet cake with buttermilk, it came out dry, too. I am wondering if the modern buttermilk that is stripped of all fat makes cakes that don’t have the proper texture. Could the difference between “real” buttermilk and the chemically created buttermilk change the texture of the cake–or is it just that some cake recipes make dry cakes?
If my hypothesis is true–should I add a tablespoon of butter to the recipe? It already had 2/3 cup of shortening.
I can still buy lowfat (rather than nofat) buttermilk; haven’t had problems with moisture in the cornbread, don’t bake much else other than that.
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If you’re going to be ‘heart smart’ :rolleyes:, then use applesauce or crushed banana instead of butter or shortening. Banana does a remarkable job in replacing what butter does in a baking recipe.
If you really do insist on using a lipid (i.e., fat or oil), then use extra virgin olive oil. It has more of the ‘good fat’ than the bad fat – much more so than butter or shortening.
Peace.
smilingjaws, Keep testing!
Mail all those rejects to me! 
Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley
I have been using fresh lowfat cultured buttermilk (1%), reconstituted dried lowfat cultured buttermilk, and 1% milk or reconstituted nonfat dry milk soured with vinegar or lemon juice for years and have never had a case of dry cake that I could honestly attribute to the buttermilk. In fact, if anything, I think the opposite to be the case. When a recipe calls for regular milk I use 1% or reconstituted nonfat dry milk, never whole milk.
There is one thing that makes my cakes dry, though: Cake flour. Have you recently switched from all-purpose flour?
Work is the curse of the drinking classes. (Oscar Wilde)
Yes, yes! I switched to cake flour because I thought it would make a cake that was tender and finer. Should I stick with regular flour?
Jois,
Maybe I better wait to mail rejects when I’m making cookies–frosted cakes don’t mail too well 
I’ve only used cake flour a few times, but the results have always been very dry for me. The cakes do rise higher with cake flour, but I prefer the moister texture that I get with all-purpose flour. I’m not sure exactly what causes the difference, but I believe the all-purpose has more protein.