Coca Cola cake is a Southern specialty. It’s a super moist chocolate sheet cake made with Coca Cola, that’s topped with a fudgy-marshmallow chocolate Coca Cola frosting. It’s ooey gooey chocolate goodness all rolled into one cake!
I call it my summertime “Happy Cake” because it’s one of my family’s favorites especially in warmer months when we are enjoying backyard barbeques and cookouts. Coca Cola Cake is a perfect dessert for those fun summertime gatherings!
We love topping it with a big ole scoop of vanilla ice cream. Talk about heaven!
Another reason to love this cake is it’s an easy, no-mixer cake that you can make in one bowl and a saucepan. Not much of a mess or clean-up and I all for that! Aren’t you? The only thing you need to beat is the eggs otherwise there isn’t any creaming of butter or sugar etc. A hot mixture of cocoa, butter, and coca-cola is poured over the sugar and flour and other dry ingredients so all you have to do is stir! Then add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and marshmallows.
We use real coke in this recipe, no diet coke or coke zero and No calorie counting for this dessert. I promise it will be worth every single calorie! Even with all the sugar, coca cola, marshmallows, and chocolate, it’s not overly rich. You can taste the delicious taste of Coca Cola and the carbonation in the coke gives the cake a light texture. The frosting is richer than the cake. It’s really is a perfect balance of everything.
There are many different version of the frosting. Some recipes call for adding pecans like the Texas Sheet Cake and some recipes add marshmallows to the frosting. My family prefers the marshmallow fudge type frosting without the pecans, but all versions are delicious.
The most important thing about making this cake is to pour the icing on the cake while it is STILL hot. I make the frosting while the cake is baking and immediately pour it over the cake after I take it out of the oven. It makes all the difference. The icing partially melts into the cake making it literally out-of-this-world!
Coca-Cola Cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes- Cook Time: 40 to 45 minutes
- Total Time: -28569570.4 minute
Yield: 15 to 20 servings
Category: Desserts
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 cup cola-flavored carbonated beverage, such as Coca-Cola (not diet)
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
- Vanilla Ice Cream for serving with cake (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
- Combine sugar, flour, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
* (Be sure to sift flour before measuring) - In a small saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and cola-flavored beverage to a boil medium heat and boil for 1 minute.
- Pour hot liquid mixture into dry ingredients and mix or stir well.
- In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk, beat eggs, and vanilla, stir until smooth.
- Add buttermilk-egg mixture to other ingredients, mix well. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle 2 cups marshmallows over batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 to 45 minutes. (Be careful not to over bake)
Notes
Make Icing while cake is baking in the oven
Coca-Cola Cake Icing
- Category: Icing
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1stick) butter
- 6 tablespoons cola-flavored beverage
- 3 tablespoons cocoa, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 ½ cup miniature marshmallows
Instructions
- Mix butter, cola, and cocoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once to a boil, remove from heat.
- Pour over confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Mix well.
- Fold in vanilla and marshmallows. Spread on hot cake.
Notes
Do ahead tip/freezer: This cake can be made several days ahead. Cover well and store in a cool place. It will freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
it looks so good got to make it.
I made this last night (the only thing I did different was not use marshmallows as I didn’t want the cake to be too sweet). WOW just wow! This cake was absolutely delicious. I usually don’t comment or leave reviews when I follow a recipe online. but I had to leave a comment here because I noticed no one left a review. This cake is tooo delicious and I don’t want anyone to find this recipe and not use it because no one has reviewed it. So here I am leaving this comment. Thank you!
Thank you so much Zachary! I am so happy that you loved the cake. It is so delicious and thank you for your comment. I certainly appreciate it.
I’m so happy that you love the cake. This Coca-Cola is one of my favorites and my family loves it too! I appreciate you leaving a comment. Thank you and so much!