Coca Cola Cake

A good Coca Cola Cake is the kind of old-school chocolate dessert that disappears faster than a cold beer in July. I love how the cola gives the cake a deeper, almost caramel-like edge while keeping every bite ridiculously soft.

Watch How to Make It

This one is baked right in a 9×13 dish, so there are no layers to fuss with and no fancy decorating skills required. You get a tender chocolate sheet cake topped with warm fudge frosting that settles into the surface just enough to make the whole thing extra special.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

This cake has that rich cocoa flavor folks expect, but it is not dry or overly dense. The hot butter, cocoa, and Coca Cola mixture wakes up the flour and sugar before the eggs go in, giving the crumb a smooth texture with a little extra lift.

I also love that the frosting comes together in one saucepan while the cake rests. You pour it on warm, spread it out, and let it set into a shiny fudgy layer with soft little pockets where it meets the cake.

It serves a crowd without making your kitchen look like a bakery exploded. Bring it to a cookout, potluck, birthday, or Sunday dinner and watch people come back for that second square.

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Ingredients & Tools You'll Need

For the cake, you will need all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt, vegetable or canola oil, unsalted butter, Coca Cola, unsweetened cocoa powder, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, and buttermilk. The cola brings sweetness and a subtle toasted flavor, while the buttermilk keeps the cake tender and helps the baking soda do its job.

The warm frosting uses more unsalted butter, cocoa powder, heavy cream or milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. I prefer heavy cream when I have it because it makes the icing taste fuller and silkier, but milk still gives you that classic smooth chocolate finish.

Grab a 9×13 baking dish, a medium saucepan, a large mixing bowl, measuring cups, a whisk or wooden spoon, an electric mixer if you want one, and a spatula. Nothing wild here – just the kind of kitchen gear most of us already have tucked in a cabinet.

How To Make It

The big trick with this cake is working while the butter and cola mixture is hot, then moving on before the batter gets overmixed. It sounds a little different from a regular chocolate cake, but once you make it, you will see why this method has stuck around.

Keep your ingredients measured before you turn on the stove. That way, when the cocoa mixture reaches a boil, you can pour it straight into the dry ingredients and keep the whole thing moving without scrambling around for vanilla or baking soda.

Preparation

Start by heating your oven to 350 degrees and greasing your 9×13 baking dish well, especially around the corners. A thin coat of butter or cooking spray works great, and it makes serving neat squares much easier later.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Break up any stubborn flour lumps now because once the hot cocoa mixture goes in, you want a smooth batter without having to beat it to death.

Add the oil, butter, Coca Cola, and cocoa powder to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir as the butter melts and the cocoa blends in, then watch for the mixture to reach a full boil with bubbles across the whole surface and a deep chocolate smell coming off the pan.

Pour that hot mixture carefully over the dry ingredients and mix just until it comes together. This is where most recipes go wrong – they tend to mix the batter hard after adding every ingredient, but I keep it gentle so the cake stays soft instead of baking up tight and heavy.

Add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda, then mix until the batter looks glossy, smooth, and pourable. Scrape the bowl once, give it a final quick stir, and pour it into your prepared baking dish.

Cooking

Slide the pan into the oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. Around the end of the bake, the top should look set instead of wet, the edges should be lightly pulled away from the dish, and your kitchen should smell like warm chocolate with a sweet cola note hiding in the background.

Test the center with a toothpick. You are looking for a few moist crumbs, not streaky raw batter, because this cake keeps cooking a little from the heat of the pan after it comes out.

Let the cake rest for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the frosting. The surface should still feel warm but should not jiggle when you gently move the pan – that is your sweet spot for a frosting that settles in beautifully without sinking into the cake.

For the frosting, melt the butter with cocoa powder and heavy cream or milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is fully melted and the mixture looks smooth and steamy, take it off the heat before adding the vanilla and powdered sugar.

Whisk or beat until the frosting is creamy and lump-free, then pour it over the warm cake right away. Use a spatula to guide it into the corners, and listen for that soft little hush as the warm icing meets the cake – that's when the magic happens.

Serving & Variations

Give the frosting a little time to set before slicing, usually until it loses that super-wet shine and feels lightly firm when touched near an edge. I like serving this cake slightly warm with cold vanilla ice cream, because that cool-and-fudgy combo is hard to beat.

A common consensus among home cooks is that this kind of sheet cake gets even better after it rests a few hours because the frosting and cake settle together. I agree – it is excellent fresh, but the chocolate flavor gets deeper by the next day.

For a useful little pro-tip, do not frost the cake the second it leaves the oven. Let it sit until the top no longer looks glossy or wet, then add the warm frosting while the cake is still warm – that short wait helps the icing stay as a distinct fudgy layer instead of soaking too far into the crumb.

You can use milk instead of heavy cream in the frosting, though the finish will be a touch lighter. Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for a day or two, or refrigerate them for longer storage and let a slice sit out for a few minutes before eating so the frosting softens back up.

Wrapping Up

This Coca Cola Cake is proof that simple pantry ingredients can make something downright memorable. It is chocolatey, tender, messy in the best way, and built for passing around a table with people you like.

Make it once for the folks at your house, then keep this one in your back pocket for every potluck and family gathering after that. Recipe created by Cookinwithbabe for Trust Me Try It.

Coca Cola Cake

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil, or canola oil
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup Coca Cola
• 3 tbsps. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tbsps. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tbsps. heavy cream, or milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.
• Stir together and set aside.
• In a saucepan, add the oil, butter, Coca-Cola, and cocoa powder.
• Heat over medium heat and bring to a boil.
• Once the mixture comes to a boil, carefully pour it over the flour mixture.
• Mix with an electric mixer or stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
• Add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda.
• Mix until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it into an even layer.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
• Allow the cake to cool for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the frosting.
• For the frosting, add the butter, cocoa powder, and heavy cream (or milk) to a saucepan.
• Heat over medium until the butter has completely melted.
• Remove from the heat, then add the vanilla and powdered sugar.
• Mix until smooth and creamy.
• Pour the warm frosting over the warm cake and spread it into an even layer.
• Allow the frosting to set slightly before serving.