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This Coca Cola cake is a classic Southern dessert made easy — thanks to help from a box of cake mix! A homemade fudgy pecan and Coca Cola frosting coats each decadent slice of the moist and fluffy chocolate cake.
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From a classic one-bowl buttermilk chocolate cake to a chocolate Bundt cake with cake mix and a rich chocolate pound cake — you can never go wrong when you offer a chocolate cake for dessert! If you’re looking for an easy recipe to serve at your next Sunday supper, church potluck, or pig pickin’, then you have come to the right place. After all, everyone loves this coca cola chocolate cake (and it starts with a box of cake mix)!
Aunt Bee’s Easy Coca Cola Cake
This recipe comes from my great Aunt Bee — the most amazing home cook, surrogate-grandmother, and proper Southern lady and hostess that you will ever meet. I love that she shares her tried-and-true recipes with me on a regular basis, which she tucks inside old-fashioned handwritten notes.
Every time I find a letter in our mailbox with her distinctive handwriting on the outside (postmarked from North Carolina), I get a warm, happy feeling inside. I know that her thoughtful messages and her delicious food are waiting for me just on the other side of that paper envelope!
Best of all, Aunt Bee’s easy Coca Cola cake with cake mix doesn’t require any special baking skills or much time spent in the kitchen. It’s made without without buttermilk and without miniature marshmallows, requiring just a handful of very basic ingredients. I’ve shared this sweet treat at potlucks and picnics for over a decade now, and it’s always well received!
What is Coca Cola Cake? What does it taste like?
Coca Cola Cake is a classic dessert, often served at a pig pickin’ (or barbecue where a whole pig is roasted) in the Southern United States.
In recent years, Cracker Barrel restaurants have popularized the Coca Cola Cake with their own “Double Fudge” version.
The dessert tastes a lot like a traditional chocolate sheet cake, with a Coca Cola icing that resembles the rich chocolate glaze on a Texas Sheet Cake. The soda gives the cake an extra fluffy rise, while adding a bit of that delicious Coke flavor, too!
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that go into Aunt Bee’s shortcut Coca Cola cake with cake mix. As always, specific measurements are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Chocolate cake mix: any brand will work. You can use a classic chocolate cake mix, or try one that’s labeled “milk chocolate cake,” “dark chocolate cake,” “Devil’s Food cake,” or “chocolate fudge.” These are all great options.
- Eggs and oil: check your specific box of cake mix for the additional ingredients required to bake the cake. Instead of using water, however, you’ll substitute with an equal amount of Coca Cola.
- Coca Cola: for both the cake batter and the chocolate pecan frosting.
- Butter, unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and chopped pecans: these ingredients come together (along with Coke) to make the pecan fudge frosting that enrobes the warm chocolate cake.
How to Make Coca Cola Cake with Cake Mix
This recipe for a coca-cola cake is about as easy as it gets — thanks to help from a boxed cake mix! I’ve included detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the quick overview:
- Mix together the cake batter as instructed on the package directions; however, substitute Coca Cola for the water.
- Bake the cake in a 9 x 13-inch pan in the oven. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- While the cake is still warm, prepare the Coca Cola frosting.
- Bring the butter, cocoa powder, and Coke to a boil. Remove from the heat.
- Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Fold in the pecans.
- Pour the hot frosting mixture over the warm cake. The icing will firm up as it cools.
Serving Suggestions
Serve each slice of cake on its own with a cold glass of milk or a warm cup of coffee. You might also like to top individual pieces of cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, or sweet maraschino cherries.
Storage Tips
Cover the cake with plastic or foil (or transfer to an airtight container) and store at room temperature for up to 5 days. It does not need to be refrigerated; however, if your house is particularly warm or humid, the icing might get soft. In that case, you might prefer to keep it covered in the fridge.
To extend the life of your chocolate coke cake, you can wrap it tightly and freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips for the Best Coca Cola Cake Recipe
- Check your package of chocolate cake mix to be sure that you’re using the correct ingredients, since every brand differs slightly.
- Pour the Coca Cola frosting over a warm cake.
- Allow plenty of time for the cake to cool completely in the baking pan and for the icing to set before slicing and serving.
- I have not tested this recipe with Diet Coke, as the flavor will differ. If you give it a shot, please let us know!
- Swap out the Coke and use root beer instead.
- Serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, and maraschino cherries for real treat!
More Recipes with Coca Cola
Crock Pot Coca Cola Chicken
2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins
Crock Pot Pot Roast
8 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
Coca Cola Pork Chops
20 minutes mins
Coca Cola Cake with Cake Mix
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 (15.25 ounce) box chocolate or Devil's Food cake mix, plus ingredients called for on the box
- 1 cup Coca Cola (or enough to replace the water called for on the package directions)
For the Coca Cola Frosting:
- ½ cup (1 stick) salted butter
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons Coca Cola
- 1 (16 ounce) box confectioners sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
Instructions
Bake the Cake
- Bake the cake in a 9 x 13-inch pan according to package directions, BUT replace the water with an equal amount of Coca Cola.
- While the cake is still warm, prepare the Coca Cola Frosting.
Make the Coca Cola Frosting
- In a large saucepan, bring butter, cocoa powder, and Coca Cola to a boil, whisking regularly. Remove from heat and mix in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the pecans.
Ice the Cake
- Pour the hot icing over the warm cake. The icing will firm up and harden into a sweet shell over the cake as it cools.
Notes
- Check your package of chocolate cake mix to be sure that you’re using the correct ingredients, since every brand differs slightly.
- Pour the Coca Cola frosting over a warm cake.
- Allow plenty of time for the cake to cool completely in the baking pan and for the icing to set before slicing and serving.
- I have not tested this recipe with Diet Coke, as the flavor will differ. If you give it a shot, please let us know!
- Swap out the Coke and use root beer instead.
- Serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, and maraschino cherries for real treat!
Nutrition
This post was originally published in May, 2016. It was updated in August, 2023.
I’ve heard of using coke in cake mixes before, but I’ve never tried it. You are now convincing me that I need to make this asap. I love how thick and fluffy this is, Blair! So perfect for summer!
Oh, definitely give it a try! It’s a great texture! Thanks so much, Gayle!
Can I make this in a dìdispsopable pan?
Hi, Sheila! Yes, that will work fine — just make sure that it’s a deep 9 x 13-inch disposable. I find that those foil pans are often very shallow, which will cause the batter to overflow in your oven. This cake rises fairly high, so definitely look for a deeper disposable pan, or just don’t fill the pan with quite all of the batter. Hope you enjoy!
I love learning new shortcuts from you, Blair! I’ve used soda in cakes before but never in boxed mixes. It’s so easy and perfect for when you need a quick dessert. Love it and can’t wait to try it!!
I have come across many cola cakes but never tried it. Your cola cake looks really good. I prefer baking from scratch and I am going to try this with my favourite chocolate cake recipe. Hope you have a lovely weekend Blair !
Oh, if you have the time and patience to make it from scratch, I’m sure that would be delicious, Ruwani!
How much is a 1 lb box of confectioners sugar in cups, I am from Canada & we don’t have boxes of that, just medium size bags.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Sylvia Cormier.
Hi, Sylvia! I’m so glad that you might make the cake! I looked online to try to figure out the measurement since I’ve never actually scooped and measured it from the box myself. Here’s the answer that I found: “One cup of powdered sugar is 4.41 ounces, so there are 3.63 cups in a pound of powdered sugar.”
Hope that helps!
I needed an egg-free version of this so I modified your recipe. Used 12 oz cola, 1/3 cup oil, and a chocolate cake mix. It’s perfect! Thanks for making our Christmas dinner special!
That’s awesome! So glad that it worked for you! 🙂
We just made this and I accidentally left the Coke out of the cake mix, but it was still so good! We ate it while it was still warm and the glaze was so ooey-gooey and amazing! I will use this glaze for other cakes in the future.
I’m glad that it still worked for you, Analicia! The Coke adds flavor, but it also helps the cake rise more and have a fluffy texture…so next time, maybe you’ll like it even better! 🙂
Can yo add marshmellows or pecons to this batter? Thanks
Hi, Gayle! Sure — I think that both of those options would work well!
Can you make cupcakes with this recipe?
Hi, Dawn! I think the cake would be great as cupcakes, but I worry that the glaze on top would run right off the side of the rounded cupcake tops. Maybe use a thicker more traditional chocolate frosting instead?
Can this be made with a Bundt pan?
Hi, Tiara! I think it would probably work, but Bundt cakes tend to do better with a more dense batter. You will likely need to bake the cake at a lower temperature (325) and for a longer amount of time to ensure that it bakes through. Hope that helps!
Ohhhhh my goodness.
Simply amazing and delicious
I substituted mayo for the oil and that made this cake a 10/10
Wonderful! Thanks, Laurie! I love the idea of using mayo instead of oil. Great tip!