Now, I’m gonna be honest with ya’ll (clearly living in the South has changed me a bit)…I turned my nose up to all recipes I saw that had any kind of soda in it: cherry cola, Mountain Dew, Sprite, you name it. Being the classic cook that I am, I just couldn’t understand why someone would think a soda could make a cake taste any better than classic, all-natural ingredients.
It wasn’t until I found a recipe for Coca-Cola cake on my favorite blog, Serious Eats, that I decided to give this idea a chance. Like the name suggests, this blog is about serious eaters who seriously know their food. So I trust [mostly] anything they say.
And the recipe wasn’t half bad. I decided to make them into cupcakes, since it’s easier to distribute to the people in my office that way. I wouldn’t do it again, however. They didn’t really hold onto the icing that well so most of the icing dripped down the wrapper, which, as you can imagine, got pretty sticky. Yucky. But the flavor was pretty amazing! So just make it has a cake rather than cupcakes and you’ll be fine.
Recipe (courtesy of Serious Eats):
For the Cake
- Baking spray
- 2 cups (about 10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
- 1 cup Coca-Cola
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
For the Icing
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
- 16 ounces confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional) – I used them in my recipe and I think they added a great texture to the cake but I think I’d leave them out next time so they don’t take away from the cola flavor of the cake.
Procedures
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For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with baking spray. Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt in large bowl.
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Bring butter, cocoa powder, and Coca-Cola to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until mixture is homogeneous, and stir into flour mixture.
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Stir baking soda into buttermilk until completely dissolved and add to flour mixture; whisk to combine. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk to combine. Stir in marshmallows.
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Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer cake to cooling rack and cool 10 minutes, then make icing.
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For the Icing: Bring butter, cocoa powder, and Coca-Cola to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, salt, and (optional) pecans and pour onto cake immediately, spreading and swirling decoratively with back of a soup spoon. Serve warm, or cool to room temperature.
