A parent’s worst nightmare. A child’s best friend. No matter what you call it, the combination of cake and soda contains enough sugar to send anyone crashing with no time to spare. It’s a heartbreaking decision to choose only one. But why not have your cake “pop,” and eat it too?
Soda pop cakes are a scientific feat. Replacing the oil, eggs, and water with soda cuts the fat and calories almost by half, for a fraction of the baking time. What could be more ideal than something so cheap, easy, and not quite as unhealthy as you might expect?
For a friend’s birthday, I decided to test one of his favorite flavors: Orange Creamsicle. Armed with white cake mix and orange Sunkist from the dining hall, I set out to see how well this science project of a cake could actually turn out.
The cake was, well, like cake, except with a lighter texture that melts in your mouth and a subtle tangy flavor from the Sunkist. The only con was that when the frosting was added, the cake became a bit too sweet, so there’s nothing wrong with skipping the frosting and eating this puppy right out of the oven.
#SpoonTip: Try any combination you want, such as Cherry Coke and Chocolate Cake mix for Black Forest Cake. Spice it up with Spice Cake mix and Ginger Ale, or be healthy with Diet Coke and Chocolate Cake mix.
Orange Creamsicle Soda Pop Cake
Ingredients
Instructions
Grease and flour a 9×13-inch pan. Preheat the oven according to box directions.
In a large bowl, whisk cake mix and soda together until no lumps are left. Add more soda to taste, if necessary.
Pour cake mixture into the greased pan, and bake for about 20 minutes at the preheated temperature. The cake will be very soft, but you should be able to insert and remove a toothpick cleanly.
Let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes at room temperature before frosting and/or devouring.
(Optional): Mix soda with the frosting for enhanced flavor, and decorate to your heart’s content.
#SpoonTip: Add food coloring to either the batter or the frosting to really get that glow.
For anyone who’s short on time, secretly sucks at baking, or wants to see some crazy science, I definitely recommend trying this cake. If you can make cake pops, then why not turn pop into a cake?