Here are the facts:
I had grand plans to make a Dr Pepper cake for a certain cute red headed boy for his birthday.
I had these grand plans because I wanted to impress this certain boy with my ninja-like baking skills.
I found a book. I found a recipe. I bought Dr. Pepper. I whipped up the batter. I threw together the frosting. I married the cake and frosting.
Aaaaand…
Gross. Icky. Yuck. Creepy moist. Too sweet. Thumbs down. Not good. Not cute. Not any way to celebrate a birthday.
Maybe the addition of marshmallows should have been a red flag.
I had to go with the ‘it’s the thought that counts’ defense… sort of unacceptable when your name is Joy the (freaking) Baker.
Now you know the facts. Now maybe you can help.
What’s your favorite soda pop cake recipe? I’ve got to redeem myself. Any suggestions?
Orla
https://www.odlums.ie/index.php?page=chocolate-cola-cake
This cake is delicious i love it!!
Tabitha
Here is my grandmas recipe, this is my dad’s and hubbys FAVORITE cake in the whole world it’s similar to a soda pop cake.
1 box white cake mix (or a from scratch white cake)
1 box strawberry Jello
1 Box Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 Tub of Cool Whip
Bake cake. Make Jello but DO not refridgerate or let set. Poke holes all over cake with large serving fork or wooden spoon. Spoon liquid Jello mix all over cake maybe half the jello liquid. Place cake in fridge for at least a couple hours until cake is cooled. Make instant Pudding, mix in half the tub of cool whip, spread on top of cake and put back into fridge. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. Refridergate leftovers – if there are any!! It’s the yummies summer cake ever!! The Best!
Avanika (Yumsilicious Bakes)
Aww so sorry it didn’t work out!!
Kristen
I have a Dr Pepper cake recipe that does not include marshmallows. Yep = the marshmallow addition is a random one. Hmmmmmm.
Rebecca
I like the recipe for root beer flavored bunt cake from the book “Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.” I made it once and it turned out meh, then made it again with some alterations: the recipe calls for a chocolate frosting on top, but that made the thing alltogether too chocolate-tasting. I made with a very vanilla-flavored frosting instead, to get a root beer float kind of effect. Also, I added about 1/2 tsp root beer flavored extract that I got from a cooking supply store – I think it usually is for flavoring candy, it was the most wee bottle of anything I’ve ever bought. This intensified the root beer flavor quite a bit, which was a little too subtle the first time I made it. Result — AMAZING. Kinda weird, but amazing. Oh, and I made it in an octopus cakepan: I think that helped with its general awesomeness. https://www.flickr.com/photos/75923467@N00/3754695969/
DMbaker
Joy, I made this exact same recipe and was very disappointed too. Tasted like a very bland chocolate cake. My sympathies.
Kelly
I have never tried a soda cake recipe, but I’m sure the cake doctors cook books would have one.. have you tried any of their recipes?
heather
Joy!I would love to have this recipe!
Kim
Hi Joy! I am from North Carolina and have a great recipe for Orange Crush Pound Cake (we do love our pound cake here!!). It’s terrific – you put a cup of Orange crush in the batter, and then once the cake is cooled, you glaze it with powdered sugar mixed with more Orange Crush. Or Sunkist, whatever you like. Makes a good base for strawberry shortcake, too.
Lynne
best soda-pop recipe is… yours. the root beer cake is AWESOME! i have made it a few times… i have to admit that in order for the chocolate not to over power the root beer i use more root beer than you did… and less chocolate in the frosting. but it’s awesome. your blog is the bomb! seriously. love it!
PastryPrincess
Aww, too bad it didnt work out! While I do like the idea of a cake tasting of Dr.Pepper, the thought of the icky-sweet soda pop AND marshmallows makes my teeth feel like they wanna get up and run, haha. ;P
I’m sure your b-day boy appreciated the effort and is already well impressed though! ;)
I know there’s a lot of cakes with different sodas in germany… I believe Ive tried Sprite and Fanta cakes before and they were quite nice actually. The difference to American cakes would be though that theyre probably not quite as sweet, which in this case particularly could be very good. And usually they would be drier like stirred cakes baked in a springform-pan. So nothing like that brownie up there but maybe worth a try…
Emily
I stick with the Cook’s Illustrated approach: all soda based cakes that they tested, save 1 (a very particular 7up cake that they tested every which way from Sunday to get the right recipe), was — to paraphrase — horrible, awful, and just plain ick.
Marjorie M
https://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/dr-pepper-chocolate-cake/
Donna Conners
1 can of Diet Cream soda and 1 box of funfetti cake mix. Nothing else and bake according to directions on box. Delicious!