This recipe for Coca Cola Cake is a copycat of the beloved Cracker Barrel cake. It consists of a moist and fudgy cake made with cola topped with a decadent chocolate frosting. Be prepared for your family to devour it!
Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake (Copycat Recipe)
If you have ever eaten the coca cola cake at Cracker Barrel, then you are familiar with its rich chocolate flavor. That is exactly what we have aimed to recreate. It’s been their tradition for a long time and I wanted a way to be able to enjoy it at home whenever I wanted. Never tried it before? Make this recipe and you will see right away why it’s a fan favorite.
This is a homemade cake and frosting recipe but you can also add soda to store-bought cake mix as well. A great example is this Strawberry Soda Cake which is made with strawberry cake mix and a can of Sprite. In this case, the cola enhances the chocolate flavor and takes the cake to the next level. Don’t want to use your oven? Try our Crock-Pot Coca Cola Cake recipe.
What You’ll Need
It takes basic cake ingredients to make this delicious dessert. You probably have most of these things in your kitchen right now.
For the Cake:
- Flour: You can use cake flour or all-purpose flour.
- Sugar
- Baking Soda
- Coca-Cola: The star ingredient of this cake
- Salted Butter
- Baking Cocoa: For the chocolate flavoring.
- Eggs: Make sure they are at room temperature.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract adds the best flavor.
- Buttermilk: To make the cake moist.
For the Frosting:
- Salted Butter: Adds a little salt to balance out the flavor.
- Baking Cocoa
- Coca-Cola: More Coke to tie it all together.
- Vanilla
- Powdered Sugar: This sweetens the frosting without giving it a grainy texture.
How to Make Coca-Cola Cake
It’s easier than ever to make a homemade cake and homemade frosting. This recipe for Coca-Cola cake is sure to impress whoever you serve it to.
- Step 1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and then grease a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Step 2. While the oven is preheating, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and baking soda) in a large mixing bowl until well combined. Set it aside.
- Step 3. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter, baking cocoa, and the Coca-Cola and whisk until it boils. Remove from the heat immediately after it comes to a boil and pour it directly into the bowl of the flour mixture.
- Step 4. Stir well to combine. Then, add vanilla, buttermilk, and eggs to the cake batter. Stir once again until well mixed.
- Step 5. Pour the batter into the prepared 9×13 baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and it is ready when it comes out clean.
- Step 6. Remove from the oven and make the frosting while it cools.
- Step 7. For the frosting, bring the butter, baking cocoa, Coke, and vanilla to a boil over medium heat in a medium saucepan.
- Step 8. Once boiling, remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Pour over the cake while still warm.
- Step 9. Let the frosting set for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Tips and Tricks
- Add chopped walnuts or pecans to the frosting (or even the cake) for a nutty spin on this recipe.
- I like to serve this cake warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cherry on top. You can skip those and eat the cake warm or at room temperature. It’s yummy no matter how you choose to eat it. If you store it in the refrigerator, it’s even tasty cold!
- Substitute the cola for Dr. Pepper, root beer or cherry Coca-Cola for a different flavor. Just make sure you do not use diet soda.
- You can also change the frosting as a variation to this moist recipe for Coca Cola Cake. Our Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect combination!
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Triple Chocolate Cake
- New York Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Poke Cake
- Chocolate Dump Cake
- Instant Pot Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Chocolate Cherry Coke Cake
Coca Cola Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup coca cola
- 1 cup salted butter
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Frosting
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons coca cola
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, and baking soda.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat bring the 1 cup butter, 6 tablespoons baking cocoa, and 1 cup Coca-Cola to a boil while whisking.
- Once it comes to a bubble remove it from the heat immediately and pour into the flour mix.
- Stir to combine.
- Next add the vanilla, buttermilk and eggs until well mixed.
- Pour into a greased 9×13 cake pan and for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and immediately make the frosting.
Frosting
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat bring the 1⁄2 cup butter, 3 tablespoons of baking cocoa, 6 tablespoons of coca cola and vanilla to a boil.
- As soon as it boils remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar until it is smooth and well combined.
- Immediately pour the frosting over the cake.
- Let the frosting set for about 10 minutes and serve!
Last Step:
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