Can someone tell me why a recipe would call for buttermilk? What attributes does it give to the cake that regular milk doesnt?

Thanks

It makes cakes moist.

It has a distinctive flavor as well, I love to use it in chocolate cakes, pancakes, biscuits and I've got a buttermilk cake recipe. It's gooood! Recipes that call for buttermilk have baking soda in them too, the soda pairs with the acid in the buttermilk to help the cake rise.