Lists
Sometimes laziness wins out, am I right? That and curiosity. They say curiosity killed the cat, but when it comes to baking, does the saying hold true?
Well. I mean, yes. Sometimes it does! Some of you have probably heard that you can make a cake with just two ingredients - a box of some cake mix and a can of soda. Or pop. I'm from Oregon and I grew up calling it pop, but since living in LA and being surrounded by soda-sayers, I feel like I'm supposed to say soda? Ah, life. People also don't say the full name of freeways in LA, either. It's the 405 to the 101 to the 110 to the 10 to the 5, etc. All "the" something. But in Oregon it's I-5, I-205, I-405. Probably because there are way less freeways. But I digress.
Cake. We're talking about cake!
So, first and foremost - yes, you can make a cake with just a box of cake mix and some soda. It doesn't have to be an actual soda drink like Coke or Pepsi or whatever else. I just used sparkling water here to see if that would work, and it does. But despite what other people may say, you kind of do have to mess with the directions on the box before baking. I was going by the directions on the box, then noticed only 10 minutes unto the 25 minute cook time that the cake was already looking close to done. So, in my instructions below, I advise you lower the oven temperature and shorten the baking time by about five minutes. I'm just glad I was paying attention, or this would've been one overdone cake.
The question remains, though - just because you can make a cake this way, does it mean you should? I can tell you that, no, I will likely not make a cake this way again. Why's that, you ask? It's extremely crumbly. The egg that is normally in there has a purpose, people. You may not be able to tell from these photos 100%, but it was very hard to get out a normal piece of cake without it crumbling everywhere. However, a different experiment would be adding in something else to help as a binder. You could try some applesauce, pumpkin puree, mashed banana. Those would all be ways to add a little more moisture and bind-i-ness, and perhaps get a more cake-y cake out of the process.
But if you just want some fast and easy cake you can scoop into and dollop some ice cream on top of, then hey, this totally works for that.
Ingredients
- Avocado Pound Cake
Have you ever gone to the grocery store, all ready to buy certain things with specific meal ideas in mind, only to find they are literally out of every single thing you wanted? Welcome to my weekend! I mean, sheesh. Was it because of the whole Easter...
- Kentucky Butter Cake
Sometimes, magic happens. Like, you're not quite sure what to bake. You wanted to bake something with fruit, but that requires going to the grocery, and well, that just sounds not fun. And you're sadly low on actually many important baking ingredients....
- Honey Wheat Pound Cake
Sometimes I sit on my table and eat things while looking out the window. I mean, this is normal, right? Oh look gold toenails! Sorry if you have some aversion to feet. That's my foot. Get over it. I was eating on the table and decided photographic...
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake
You guys, this cake. This cake! This cake is amazeballs. For. Real. If you like pumpkin at all, even if you're not entirely sure you're that into pumpkin... make it anyway! And if you don't like pumpkin? Who are you?! Pumpkin is so...
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
I had seen this cake over at The Pioneer Woman awhile ago and always wanted to try it, but I never had buttermilk, or regular milk, for that matter. Finally I decided to buy some powdered buttermilk to have around for just such occasions as recipes randomly...
Lists
Chocolate Soda Cake
Sometimes laziness wins out, am I right? That and curiosity. They say curiosity killed the cat, but when it comes to baking, does the saying hold true?
Well. I mean, yes. Sometimes it does! Some of you have probably heard that you can make a cake with just two ingredients - a box of some cake mix and a can of soda. Or pop. I'm from Oregon and I grew up calling it pop, but since living in LA and being surrounded by soda-sayers, I feel like I'm supposed to say soda? Ah, life. People also don't say the full name of freeways in LA, either. It's the 405 to the 101 to the 110 to the 10 to the 5, etc. All "the" something. But in Oregon it's I-5, I-205, I-405. Probably because there are way less freeways. But I digress.
Cake. We're talking about cake!
So, first and foremost - yes, you can make a cake with just a box of cake mix and some soda. It doesn't have to be an actual soda drink like Coke or Pepsi or whatever else. I just used sparkling water here to see if that would work, and it does. But despite what other people may say, you kind of do have to mess with the directions on the box before baking. I was going by the directions on the box, then noticed only 10 minutes unto the 25 minute cook time that the cake was already looking close to done. So, in my instructions below, I advise you lower the oven temperature and shorten the baking time by about five minutes. I'm just glad I was paying attention, or this would've been one overdone cake.
The question remains, though - just because you can make a cake this way, does it mean you should? I can tell you that, no, I will likely not make a cake this way again. Why's that, you ask? It's extremely crumbly. The egg that is normally in there has a purpose, people. You may not be able to tell from these photos 100%, but it was very hard to get out a normal piece of cake without it crumbling everywhere. However, a different experiment would be adding in something else to help as a binder. You could try some applesauce, pumpkin puree, mashed banana. Those would all be ways to add a little more moisture and bind-i-ness, and perhaps get a more cake-y cake out of the process.
But if you just want some fast and easy cake you can scoop into and dollop some ice cream on top of, then hey, this totally works for that.
Chocolate Soda Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 12 ounces soda/sparkling water
- Preheat oven to 325F. Spray the bottom of a 9x13 pan (or you can do it however you like, in two round cake pans, cupcakes, etc.).
- Mix together the cake mix and the soda water. It can be slightly lumpy. Pour into your prepared pan and smooth out.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Your cooking times will vary depending on the pan size you are using.
- Avocado Pound Cake
Have you ever gone to the grocery store, all ready to buy certain things with specific meal ideas in mind, only to find they are literally out of every single thing you wanted? Welcome to my weekend! I mean, sheesh. Was it because of the whole Easter...
- Kentucky Butter Cake
Sometimes, magic happens. Like, you're not quite sure what to bake. You wanted to bake something with fruit, but that requires going to the grocery, and well, that just sounds not fun. And you're sadly low on actually many important baking ingredients....
- Honey Wheat Pound Cake
Sometimes I sit on my table and eat things while looking out the window. I mean, this is normal, right? Oh look gold toenails! Sorry if you have some aversion to feet. That's my foot. Get over it. I was eating on the table and decided photographic...
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake
You guys, this cake. This cake! This cake is amazeballs. For. Real. If you like pumpkin at all, even if you're not entirely sure you're that into pumpkin... make it anyway! And if you don't like pumpkin? Who are you?! Pumpkin is so...
- Chocolate Sheet Cake
I had seen this cake over at The Pioneer Woman awhile ago and always wanted to try it, but I never had buttermilk, or regular milk, for that matter. Finally I decided to buy some powdered buttermilk to have around for just such occasions as recipes randomly...