Old-Fashioned Cola Cake

I'm addicted to a lot of foods and drinks that are bad for me. Soda is one of them. So when I offered to bake dessert for the BBQ my parents were having for Mother's Day, I was intrigued by the Old-Fashioned Cola Cake I found in The Cake Mix Doctor during my search (because of the lemon bars for my mom I figured I should find a quick recipe). To keep things simple I stuck with just the cake and decorated with a can (or two) of frosting.

Old-Fashioned Cola Cake (pgs. 55-56)

Ingredients

Cake

• Vegetable oil spray for misting pan
  
• 1 package (18.25 oz) plain white cake mix
• 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup cola
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (just mix 1/2 tsp lemon juice in regular milk)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Frosting (if using)

• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup cola
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Place a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350*F. Lightly mist a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Set aside.
2. Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, melted butter, cola, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look well blended. Fold in the marshmallows. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
3. Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 40 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting (if using). Place the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. As the butter melts, stir in the cocoa powder and cola. Let the mixture come just to a boil, stirring constantly, and then remove it from the heat. Stir the powdered sugar until the frosting is thickened and smooth. Fold in the pecans.
5. Pour the frosting over the top of the cake, spreading it out with a rubber spatula, so that it reaches the edges of the cake. Cool the cake for 20 minutes before serving.
6. Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving. (I kept the cake on the serving board, covered in plastic wrap and in my fridge. It seems to be doing OK. I might wrap it up in foil later and put it back in the fridge so I can wash the board and get to the cake easier.)

Once again, I kind of overdid it on the decorating, this time because I bought a can of frosting to make roses (wasn't sure the packets that come with tips could fit my personal tips, even if by the same company) though I think it was a lot more toned down than at Easter. I ended up having a ton of frosting left over (which yes, I have been eating).

Everyone was very impressed. They could tell I had used Cherry Coke. If I ever make this again, I might see if using a non-cola soda (e.g. Dr. Pepper, Sprite, Mountain Dew) would still work.