Coca-Cola Cake — One can of Coke in the cake and another can of Coke in the frosting!! EASY no-mixer cake that’s supremely moist! Tastes like a Texas sheet cake spiked with Coke!!
Table of Contents
Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake Recipe
This Coca-Cola cake is supremely moist and soft thanks to a can of Coke in the batter. There’s another can of Coke in the boiled frosting, which reminds me of Texas sheet cake frosting.
The frosting is abundant and pools up at the edges of the pan. No complaints here.
Between those two cans of Coke you definitely can taste it, more so in the frosting than in the cake in my opinion. The chocolate flavor is still present, though! For Coca-Cola fans, you’re going to love that aspect!
Tip
If you’re the type of person who thinks bran muffins are too sweet, this isn’t the cake for you!
Between those two cans of Coke (sugar), there’s also 2 cups of granulated sugar in the cake and 4 cups (1 pound) of confectioners’ sugar in the frosting yet paradoxically the cake itself isn’t ridiculously sweet. The frosting is sweeter than the cake but frosting is always sweet.
Coca-Cola Cake Ingredients
To make the chocolate cake with Coca-Cola, you’ll need:
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Coca-Cola
- Unsalted butter
- Canola oil
- Unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Confectioners’ sugar
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe card with exact measurements.
How to Make Coca-Cola Cake
The batter for this Coca-Cola chocolate cake recipe isn’t made like your typical cake, but it’s still incredibly easy to whisk together. Here’s a look at how the easy Coca-Cola cake recipe comes together:
- Make the cake: Whisk together the sugar and flour.
- Add the butter, oil, cocoa powder, and Coca-Cola to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, pour the Coke mixture over the flour mixture.
- Dissolve the baking soda into the buttermilk, then pour into the cake batter along with the remaining ingredients.
- Turn the batter into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish and bake in a preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Make the frosting: While the Coke cake bakes, make the frosting. The frosting can be spread over the cake while it’s still warm, and then you’ll need to let the cake rest until the frosting is set.
Tips for Making Coca-Cola Cake
Saucepan: I use a thick-bottomed saucepan when making the Coke frosting. If your saucepan is thinner and lightweight, you may need to lower the temperature of your stove so you don’t accidentally burn the Coke when boiling it.
Cooling the cake: Be sure to let the frosting set before slicing into this cake, otherwise you’ll have a huge mess on your hands.
Using a different soda: I’ve only made this Coca-Cola chocolate cake as written, but a few readers have reported success using other sodas in this recipe, such as Root Beer. Again, you’ll need to use regular sodas if you try to switch up this recipe, not diet or low-sugar ones.
Serving Suggestions
Although this cake is best stored in the fridge for longer term storage, I recommend serving it at room temperature. It’d be delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but it’s already sweet enough as is that it’s not strictly necessary!
Coca-Cola Cake FAQs
A few readers have left comments stating that their Coke frosting is runny, no matter how long they boil it.
If that happens to you, try adding just half a can of Coca-Cola and then adding extra splash by splash until the frosting reaches your desired thickness. I’ve never had an issue with this, but all saucepans, climates, etc. are different.
For a less prominent Coke flavor, you can replace the Coca-Cola frosting with chocolate buttercream or even chocolate ganache frosting (you’d need to double the chocolate ganache frosting to cover a 9×13-inch pan).
You may be able to make a boxed chocolate cake with Coca-Cola, but I’ve only made this recipe as written so I can’t advise you on what to change if using a box mix.
Use must use real (i.e. full sugar) Coke. Not Diet Coke or Coke Zero and I didn’t reduce the amount of sugar in the cake because in baking sugar doesn’t only effect the taste, it effects the texture and structure of baked goods.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Coca-Cola Cake
Ingredients
Coke Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 can, 12 ounces Coca-Cola (use regular, not Diet or Coke Zero)
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coke Frosting
- 1 can, 12 ounces Coca-Cola
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- ¼ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 4 cups 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a 9×13 pan with aluminum foil for easier cleanup, and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- To a large bowl add the sugar, flour, and whisk to combine; set aside.
- To a medium, high-sided saucepan, add the butter, oil, cocoa powder, Coca-Cola, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; whisk nearly continuously.
- Once boiling, pour liquid over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine; set aside.
- Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk just before adding to the batter and whisk to combine.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan and bake about 35 to 40 minutes, or until done. A toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter.
- In the last 15 minutes or so of baking, make the frosting.
Make the Frosting:
- In a small, high-sided saucepan bring the Coca-Cola to a boil over high heat and cook 12 to 15 minutes or until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup.
- While Coke cooks, sift the confectioners’ sugar over a large bowl; set aside.
- After the Coke has reduced, turn the heat to medium, and add the butter, cocoa, and whisk constantly until butter has melted.
- Add the Coke and butter mixture to the confectioners’ sugar and whisk until smooth. *
- Pour the frosting immediately over the warm cake. Allow frosting to set up before slicing and serving.
Notes
- *Note – My frosting was very thick and I needed to add a splash of additional Coke from a new can to get it to a pourable consistency, your results may vary.
- Cake will keep airtight at room temp or in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you enjoy chilled desserts, store it in the fridge, noting it can dry out faster in the fridge than at room temp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Easy Chocolate Cake Recipes:
The Best Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache – The best chocolate cake I’ve ever had and the easiest scratch cake to make! Nothing fussy or complicated and delivers amazing results every time!
The Best and The Easiest Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes – One bowl, no mixer, so easy! The warm, gooey, fudgy chocolate center is heavenly! Better than any restaurant versions!
Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Chocolate Cake – Super soft, gooey, rich, and fudgy! The cake makes its own hot fudge sauce while cooking in the slow cooker! The easiest cake you’ll ever make and it tastes amazing!
Turtle Chocolate Poke Cake – The flavor of the famous candy in a decadent chocolate cake with tons of caramel and pecans! Easy, super soft and moist, and a crowd favorite!
The BEST Triple Chocolate Cake — This is the chocolate layer cake to beat out all others. It’s rich, decadent, and everything you want in a triple chocolate cake!
Smores Poke Cake — A supremely moist and decadent chocolate cake topped with graham crackers, marshmallows, and hot fudge! Campfire not required for this fun and easy twist on smores!
Better-Than-Anything Chocolate Cake – Worthy of its name and one of the BEST cakes you will EVER eat! Doesn’t get any better than chocolate, caramel, whipped topping, and candy in an easy, no-mixer cake!
I’ve made this cake 3 times already and love it. My only concern is that the past 2 times the icing always comes out runny no matter how much I wisk and how much powdered sugar I put. I’ve even added heavy whipping cream and cornstarch and it still comes out super liquidy. It’s most likely my own error. I usually end up making a chocolate buttercream in place of the icing in thr recipe.
Just start with a 1/2 cake of Coke, add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and add Coke slowly, splash by splash, until you get the right consistency. That will do the trick for you. There’s just simply too much Coke given your sugar, climate, etc.
This sounds like a pretty sweet cake, and I’m not a chocoholic like many people are…I probably wouldn’t put frosting on it at all. What do you think of using a packet of sweetened cocoa mix instead of the unsweetened cocoa powder and reducing the granulated sugar slightly? It would also save the cost of the unsweetened cocoa powder which isn’t something I regularly have in my pantry.
I have only made this cake as written and so really can’t comment as to if the sweetened cocoa mix would work as a sub for unsweetened cocoa powder. But my hunch that no probably not, and it would serve to just make it sweeter if it did work.
I have a ton of other chocolate cake recipes if you look over the Related Recipes section. I am sure you will find something that looks like a winner!
I just wanted to say Thankyou for this recipe! It makes such a delicious cake, Everytime I’ve made it. However, just for me when it comes to cooking the coke for the frosting at such a high heat for so long. It burnt my pan, and my coke. It was a disaster. It could be my stove. Maybe it cooks faster, it’s hotter, something like that. So, what I have to do is cook the coke at a medium temp. Let it boil at that, then constantly watch it, until it reduces. Then I add the other ingredients. As for the sugar, I have to add way more, including corn starch, and a bit of heavy whipping cream to get it to a frosting that resembles yours. Other time’s I’ve made it, and didn’t add the extra sugar, cream, and cornstartch. It was just a very runny glaze. When I do it the way I’ve explained. It’s perfect, and it won’t last long in my kitchen. I just wanted to post this in case any one else may have had the same issue’s. This is what I have to do. Thankyou for this, though. It’s great!
Thanks for sharing what you do and what works for you. Sorry about your pan! I think you must have a very powerful stove and/or your pans could be thinner than mine. I do cook with very very heavy pans and they’re probably more insulated than yours against scorching temps but what you pointed out is helpful since others may be cooking with pans thinner/lighterweight than mine.
As for the frosting, rather than having to try to add all the extra things, maybe if you just added less coke which is diluting the frosting you wouldn’t have to add in other things, but sounds like you’ve found what works for you and your family so that’s great!
This looks absolutely delicious. I am going to make it for Christmas. So glad to have found your website on Facebook.
Would love to look at all your other recipes and I will. Have saved your website for future use. Thanks again for posting.
Thanks for finding me and I hope you enjoy the cake!
There is no way you have to boil a can of Coke on high for 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll set off your smoke alarm and have a burnt sticky mess at the bottom of your pan.
Actually, you can without any problems. Try it and let me know how you enjoy the cake.
HI,
I have not had a chance to try any of the cake recipes yet. They all look delicious so it is going to be hard to choose which one to try. I am a new follower and would like to say thank you for all of your recipes that you share with us.
God bless you!! ???
You’re welcome and thanks for following! Enjoy the recipes!
This is my grown kids favorite cake, one thing that I add to the cake part of the recipe is that after the cake has been in the over for about 30 minutes, just as the sides are almost done but the top is still very undone. sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top of the cake and continue to bake until the toothpick test is clean. The marshmallows just add to the cake. Then frost as normal. If you frost the cake while it is hot some of it will melt into the cake. Yummy.
That sounds decadent and amazing! I’ll have to try it!
I have made Coca Cola Cake for years and my recipe calls for a cup and a half of mini marshmallows spread over the top of the batter, they bake into the cake and then you frost it while still warm and it is melted, gooey, heaven. Also my recipe doesn’t call for 2 whole cans of coke either, as one of the other reviews mentioned. Regardless of how it’s made, it is one of the most delicious cakes ever.
There are different versions of this cake, as is the cake with recipes that have been around for decades, and they are all similar and all delicious!
I absolutely LOVE cola cake. And that frosting!!!!
You’re psychic because I just sent you a couple emails literally 2 minutes ago and a text :)
And this cake…I should have known you have had it before. This was my first!
hey girl- this cake looks so yummy!
this looks great!
I made this 30 years ago when I first got married. It came out great again. I also tried making it with root beer soda it came out great too .thanks
Glad you’re a fan of this recipe for decades and root beer sounds like a fun twist!
I am glad to know that it can be made with another soda. I am not a big cola fan, but root beer I could do!!
I once made the 2 recipe cola cake using a box of chocolate cake mix and a can of coke. It was very nice. Very moist. However I rarely have a boxed cake mix in my pantry. I might buy if I see on sale. It never occurred to me to actually bake a cola cake from scratch. Or use coke in the frosting. Thanks for the ideas!
Glad I gave you some ideas!
Yum. I helped my cousin fix one, like a good southern girl, back in the 70’s and fell in love. She added chopped peanuts to the frosting on hers. Found the recipe online years ago and make it when the family asks. It is so good. Don’t get me wrong, the Coke cake at Cracker Barrel is really good. It has a marshmallow chocolate kinda frosting that I see a lot online and is yummy. Something about boiling this frosting on the stove just knocks it up another level. It has a delicate crunch to it when it cools. Kinda like a petit four. Love it. Enjoy one soon! Love your recipes Averie!
Fun memories for you with this cake and similar ones it sounds like. I haven’t been to a Cracker Barrel in about a decade or more but that’s good to know they have a Coke Cake too!
I have been baking this cake for over 30 years and everyone loves it. However, I have never used a whole can of Coke in mine and it is always delicious.
I used the recipe on Coke’s site so I figured it was pretty reliable. Glad you’ve been making this cake for over 30 years!
I was thinking that if you used cherry coke in the frosting it might be kinda cherryish and yummy…
That sounds wonderful for a nice twist!
I have seen recipes for 7-up cake and have made a Dr. Pepper pork loin, but this is new to me! Coke sounds good in a chocolate cake and the frosting does sound wonderful (and very interesting with coke syrup too). I’ve never had a problem with anything being too sweet……and its always worth a couple of extra miles if necessary!
It’s always worth a few extra miles if it means I get to indulge in something decadent :)
I have seen recipes for Dr Pepper pulled pork in the crockpot and also 7 Up Biscuits but this is one of the first times other than a dip that I’ve cooked with soda.