Who knew that soda was the secret ingredient for the perfect chocolate cake? Yes, a few cans of cola actually do more for a coca-cola cake than add a bit of fun to the name, and we have Southerners to thank for the innovation.
Soda’s carbonation helps lift the cake for a better rise and cakier texture, while the slightly acidic, molasses-y flavor mellows a chocolate cake’s sweetness for a tangier, more unique taste. A can of cooked-down cola is even used to create a fudgy chocolate glaze topping. So, crack open a few cans of cola and get baking.
Ingredients for Coca-Cola Cake
- All-purpose flour: With its mix of hard and soft wheat, all-purpose flour provides a nice cake crumb that isn’t too soft or crumbly.
- Sugar: The cake is sweetened with granulated sugar. We don’t recommend swapping in brown sugar since the cola adds a good amount of molasses flavor already.
- Baking soda: Our recipe for a coca-cola cake uses baking soda as its leavening agent.
- Ground cinnamon: A touch of sweet cinnamon adds a warm and cozy element that pairs perfectly with the molasses-y cola.
- Cola: You’ll need two 12-ounce cans of cola in total. One is for the cake, and one is for the glaze. Use any leftover cans for these recipes that start with a can of cola.
- Butter: Unlike other cake recipes, this recipe doesn’t need the butter brought to room temperature beforehand since we’ll be melting the butter.
- Baking cocoa: As a professionally trained baker, I always buy the best cocoa powder at the store for my chocolate desserts to make them extra rich with a deeper chocolate flavor.
- Eggs: Baking with room-temperature eggs emulsifies the batter for a lighter, fluffier cake. To bring eggs to room temperature, take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before starting the recipe or place whole eggs in a bowl filled with warm water for 15 minutes.
- Buttermilk: No buttermilk on hand? Save a trip to the store with one of these five buttermilk substitutes.
- Vanilla: You’ll need just a single teaspoon vanilla extract for this coca-cola cake recipe.
- Confectioners’ sugar: Sift 4 cups confectioners’ sugar for a lump-free glaze.
Directions
Step 1: Whisk together the dry ingredients
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until well combined.
Step 2: Heat the cola
In a small saucepan, whisk together the cola, cubed butter and baking cocoa. Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Create the batter
Combine the cola mixture with the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.
Editor’s Tip: Be careful not to stir the batter too much so you don’t overdevelop the gluten and create a tough cake. You’ll be stirring a bit more in the next step too.
Step 4: Add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until blended. Add the buttermilk mixture to the batter, whisking constantly.
Step 5: Bake the cake
Transfer the cake batter to the prepared pan. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Step 6: Make the glaze
About 15 minutes before the cake is done, prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan, bring the cola to a boil, and cook until the liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in the butter and baking cocoa until the butter is melted. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
Add in the confectioners’ sugar, and stir until the glaze is lump-free and smooth.
Step 7: Pour the glaze over the warm cake
Once the cake is out of the oven, pour the glaze over the hot cake. Once the glaze has set, feel free to dig in while the cake is slightly warm or once it has come to room temperature.
Recipe Variations
- Make it the old-fashioned way: Stick to the traditional southern coca-cola cake roots by folding mini marshmallows into your cake batter and topping the glaze with chopped pecans.
- Try it with flavored cola: Try making this coca-cola cake recipe with root beer, cherry cola, vanilla cola or Dr. Pepper instead. You can use white soda, but white sodas work best with white, vanilla, orange, and lemon cakes and desserts. For example, these pumpkin doughnut drops and 7UP pound cake recipes have lemon-lime soda.
- Bake it in a different pan: No need to stick to a 13×9-inch pan here. A quick consultation with our handy-dandy baking pan conversions chart shows that we can bake this recipe for a coca-cola cake in a 12-inch skillet, two 9-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch square pans. Use what you got!
How to Store Coca-Cola Cake
Once the coca-cola cake has cooled to room temperature, wrap it in storage wrap while the cake is still in its pan. Or, cut the cake into slices and store the pieces in airtight containers. The cake can be kept on the counter at room temperature for up to three days or in the fridge for five days.
Can you freeze coca-cola cake?
Yes! Tightly wrap the room-temperature cake in its pan with a layer of storage wrap and a layer of aluminum foil. It can be frozen for up to two months and thawed at room temperature.
Coca-Cola Cake Tips
What does adding soda do to cake?
The carbonation in soda gives the cake extra lift and lightness when baked. Adding soda also results in a cake that’s lower in fat, without the addition of eggs and oil called for in most cake mixes. And cakes aren’t the only dish that can benefit from a little soda—some meat recipes, like these cola burgers, also incorporate it.
What does coca-cola cake taste like?
Coca-cola cake doesn’t taste like soda. The cola imparts such a subtle flavor that you’ll be hard-pressed to identify it. Instead, the cake tastes similar to traditional chocolate cake but with a less sweet and less fudgy texture. The acid in the soda balances out the cake’s sweetness, lending a unique flavor and cakier crumb.
Can you bake with diet soda?
You can substitute diet cola for full-sugar soda with good results in cakes. However, for the best flavor, look for a soda without artificial sweeteners.
