Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm

This article emphasizes post-recipe thoughts and additional soda pop cake musings. Read "Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum" for resources and refs. View the video for step-by-step recipe.

Post-recipe Thoughts

I perused and collected some comments from two Betty Crocker sites after the cake bake.

"Cake Baking with Soda Pop" confirmed my guess about less cake result with soda pop cake recipe. Additional excerpted comments follow.

[Q] Why when we made this batter did we only get 1 cupcake tin? When we make the batter the normal way we get 2 cupcake tins of cupcakes.

[A]Because you have less batter. When you add eggs,oil, water etc you have a larger volume of batter. So more cupcakes.

[regular soda vs. diet comment] Regular soda did not make it too sweet. Diet soda is sweeter to me as far as taste."

[Q] Does the 1 [to] 2 minutes of beating not beat out the CO2? When making beer bread, it’s just stir gently until we’ll mixed.

[A] In this case, the batter will still hold enough gas to rise.

[Q] Can you make a sheet cake or layers with this method?

[A] we did not test this recipe with a pan or with a sheet cake method, therefore, we recommend using the [cupcake] cake tin.

From "Two-Ingredient Soda Pop Cupcakes"

[comment] We made the recipe exactly as it was written and made sure to use the electric mixer as directed.

[comment] The carbonation is required for this recipe and we do not recommend using flat soda."

Additional Soda Pop Cake Musings

The cartoon host advocated that both cake mix powder and soda pop be room-temperature. Over time, I've observed that warmer soda bubbles up more violently and longer than cold soda. As I keep cake mix in the pantry, powder temperature is no problem.

Numerous recipes I'd read or viewed show cake mix powder poured directly into a bowl, unsifted, before pouring the soda pop in. In one case, the baker might have improved her process by sifting first, as she bemoaned needing to squash powder lumps during the stirring.

I've occasionally run across recipes that call for sifting. I've sifted when I want to divide powder portions before weighing, such as for zebra or marble cakes. I've noticed bits of small particles trapped at the bottom of the strainer.

I've seen mixing processes range from gently stirring for 30 seconds or less to hand mixer for 1 minute low followed by 2 minutes medium to tilt-head KitchenAid mixing (speed and duration not easily determined). I intend to try electric mixing, but maybe after i try making a followup cake by shortening both the sifting and mixing process.

Musing Followup Cake

For a followup soda pop cake, I want to shorten the sifting and stirring processes.

Sifting took more time and effort than I expected. Planning to try a different strainer and larger spoon. Stirring was also more time-consuming. Planning to try a French/piano whisk instead of flat whisk. My Tupperware measuring pitcher (8 cups, 2 liters) would be helpful mostly for the pour/dispense stage, as I'd easily eyeball batter amount for each pan. Still likely to also use digital scale.

Alternative sifter (Tupperware tubular with crank handle), which I haven't used in many years. It's worth a shot for another soda pop cake iteration. I see online availability, several missing parts. An eye-catcher, for $24.99.

After making the followup cake, I might try using a mixer. Fingers crossed that I don't wind up with pancake-height layers!

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Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum
Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm
Video: Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich

Soda Pop Layer Cake Followup (article, video)

Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum

A few months ago, cost of eggs had nearly doubled the cost of making cake mix cake, not counting cost of frosting. The egg costs have come down, but I haven't quite recovered from the sticker shock. Recently, I made a soda pop layer cake (eggless!). Yum!

My video shows how to make the cake using a box of white cake mix and non-diet lemon lime soda (room temperature), with canned vanilla frosting. (Anything goes for flavors you want to use.) Although loads of such recipes are findable on the web, mine is for making a 9" diameter layer cake. (Just about all the other recipes aim for cupcakes or 9" x 13" sheet cakes.)

The cake turned out lower height than I expected. Noteworthy: The soda pop weighs less than usual-recipe eggs/egg whites, oil and water. Noteworthy: Batter amount is about 3/4 as much as for full-recipe cake.

I had originally run across soda pop cake when I encountered 2-ingredient recipes. At least one was pizza dough. A few were 2-ingredient cakes, several eggless. Some of the cakes called for flax seed, some for yogurt. The eggless, soda-pop cakes intrigued me the most.

Betty Crocker-centric

Betty Crocker's "Learn About Cake Baking with Soda Pop" explains carbonation WRT soda pop and leavenings in baked goods.

The carbon dioxide bubbles in soda pop act as a leavening agent — the element that makes baked goods rise and makes them light and fluffy. ...Kitchen staple leaveners — like baking soda and baking powder — use a chemical reaction to create carbon dioxide bubbles.

"Cake Baking with Soda Pop" is eye-opening for calling for 1) only one cupcake pan and for 2) the mixing time using an electric mixer. View the video there or on YouTube.

beat (1) dry cake mix and (1) soda pop with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the side of the bowl, then mix on a medium speed for 2 minutes.

Oddly, the Betty Crocker "Two-Ingredient Soda Pop Cupcakes" says "24 regular-size muffin cups". FWIW, this recipe specifies 16.25 oz for cake mix weight; the other recipe omits the weight.

Duncan Hines-centric

"Soda Pop cake" is succinct, indicating that the baker would also refer to the cake mix box instructions. I'm guessing a little bit of prior cake-making experience is helpful.

Duncan Hines has an association with Ready Set Eat, for which a recipe for soda pop cake finally shows up. And it calls for DH cake! "6 BOX CAKE MIX RECIPES AND HACKS", points to "2 Ingredient Strawberry Lemon-Lime Cake". Significant mixing instruction-""thoroughly combine cake mix and soda". The output is a 9 x 13 single layer, with suggestion of powdered sugar dusting.

Additional Recipes with Nod to Blending Ingredients and Yields

"2 Ingredient Soda Cake - Unreal!" shows the process from start to finish (using whisk), suitable for new bakers. It makes a 9 x 13 sheet cake, subdivided and minimally whip-creamed.

"2 Ingredient Chocolate Coke Cake" prefaces the recipe with some background. Might be useful when a baker is first exploring making such a cake. Scroll down to the details. She suggests using a mixer instead of a whisk. The output is a 9 x 13 sheet cake, undecorated.

"Bill shows us how to make 2 ingredient cupcakes!" demonstrates his recipe. Bill is the host for Toon In with Me cartoon show that airs weekdays. His sidekick is a talking tuna puppet. The demo was a bit amateurish and lacking in some details, but possibly endearing to audience who might think, "Hey, I could do that! He whisked diet orange soda and vanilla cake mix (both room temperature) in a bowl. Some of the batter went into lined cupcake cups. The use of an air fryer is different. Would-be bakers can refer to other soda pop recipes for filling in blanks.

"NO EGG BOX CAKE" is a nicely short video. She uses a spoon for her stirring. The process veers oddly with batter pour into a greased pan that transitions to a drizzled Bundt cake. She commented later "Same Cake, Different Pan."

"Soda Cake Recipe! 2 Ingredients" is over 10 minutes long, but contains caveats to squash cake mix lumps and to not overbeat. Interestingly, her instructions to stir about 30 seconds conflict with Betty Crocker box instructions for one-minute low speed, the 2 minutes on high. BTW, her yield is 12 cupcakes per recipe.

"3 INGREDIENT VEGAN CAKE HACKS | Can I Make A Vegan Cake Using Soda?!" finally shows the soda pop cake recipe starting about 5:12. She uses a tilt-head mixer (maybe KitchenAid). Interestingly, at the batter pour near 6:30, she prepares two 9-inch springform pans. starts out with two pans, At 7:00, she decides to use only one pan. After bake and cool, the frosting goes on only the one layer, even though she plan-b intended to slice the layer and put in a middle layer of frosting.

Calories and Sodium

I’m always curious about the calories and sodium in my cakes and cookies recipes. The soda pop cake stats can seem rather indulgent, but the calories compare favorably against standard box cake recipes that use eggs/egg whites and oil.Using soda pop (140 C) instead of box's ingredient adds of egg whites (51 C) and oil (400 C) saves loads of calories. Even more calorie savings if passing on standard recipe that calls for water, oil (533 C), and eggs (210 C). If using standard box cake recipes and frosting, the total calories bump up ~450 to 750 calories. Noteworthy: Using diet soda instead of sugar soda saves about 10 to 15 calories a slice. Rec: Indulge with the sugary stuff.

Read "Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm" for post-recipe afterthoughts and additional soda pop cake musings.

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Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Yum
Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich, Hmm
Video: Soda Pop Layer Cake--Low-height N Rich