Happy birthday to me (part 3), Coca Cola Cake

For my sixteenth birthday, one of my high school best friends threw me a surprise birthday party. Her mother baked me a homemade chocolate and raspberry birthday cake. It was delicate, buttery, rich, very chocolaty. It must have been made with lots of real cream and butter. That afternoon it one of my favorite high school memories.

When I started planning my birthday treat that was the cake I remember. And initially, that's the cake I started searching for on food blogs was that one. What I ended up with was so much more pedestrian but perfectly yummy: Coca Cola Cake!

There are recipes all over the web for Coca Cola Cake. Most of them are very similar; my recipe here is a compilation of all the standard recipes. I'd never heard of it before. I'd never tried it before. But it turned out moist, lightly chocolaty, brownie-like, with extra goodies in it like marshmallows and chocolate chips. (I would have sprinkled it with pecans too, but The Boy doesn't like nuts. Always a mom.) It's like a cross of a Texas sheet cake and a frosted brownie. 

Coca Cola Cake

INGREDIENTS

2 c all-purpose flour
2 c sugar
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c butter
1 c Coca Cola
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 c buttermilk
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup marshmallows

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

(Other possible mix-ins: toffee chips, peanut butter chips, nuts)

1/2 c butter
3 T cocoa powder
6 T Coca Cola
1 t vanilla
4 c powdered sugar
1/2 cup pecans, optional

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

2) Melt the first 1/2 cup of butter in a sauce pan. Add canola oil and Coca Cola. Be careful when adding the soda. It can boil up rapidly. Whisk in 1/4 cup of cocoa powder. 

3) Pour the chocolate liquid slowly into the dry ingredients. Stir together until thoroughly incorporated.

4) Stir in buttermilk and vanilla just until mixed.

5) Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallows. I didn't have small marshmallows, so I cut large marshmallows into quarters.

6) Spray 10x15 baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

7) While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Melt the remaining 1/2 cup of butter in a sauce pan. 

8) Stir 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Stir in 6 tablespoon Coca Cola, again taking care.

9) Remove from heat and mix in powders sugar and vanilla.

10) When the cake out of the oven, pour the frosting over immediately and spread evenly. If you wish, sprinkle pecan (or other nuts or sprinkles) on top while the frosting is warm.

An excellent birthday cake