I'm not sure if you've seen the photo going around social media of Soda Cake desserts, but when I saw the recipes, I was immediately intrigued. According to the photo, all you need is a box of cake mix and a can of soda—no oil, eggs, or water—and you have a cake. There were a few different variations printed on the photo I looked over, including root beer and chocolate cake mix, Sprite and lemon cake mix, and ginger ale and spice cake mix. Here is the picture:
Normally, I would make a cake or cupcakes from scratch, and I did in fact make the frosting from scratch, but when company is coming over or you need a quick dessert for an event, I figure this might be a good way to go. Since it's nearly Halloween, I thought I'd make a batch of holiday-themed cupcakes just to test out the recipe. For the season, I chose the ginger ale and spice cake mix and excitedly got to it. Here are my thoughts.
CONS
1. The mixture did not come together super fast or easily. It took quite a few spoon turns to blend the soda with the cake mix. On the plus side, you can lick the bowl or spoon without worrying about egg contamination.
2. The cupcakes took a little longer to bake, and did not quite fill 24 cupcake tins. I'm not sure if the lack of extra ingredients led to less product, or if this will be an issue if someone wanted to try a cake pan instead of cupcakes, but the mixture was definitely less in volume than if made per box instructions.
3. The extra sugar from the soda made the cupcakes stick to the cupcake liners. Again, this may not be a problem with a cake recipe. I'll have to try that out. But for cupcakes, you can feel the extra sugar when you touch the top of the cupcake (it's a tad sticky).
PROS
4. The taste wasn't bad. The bubbles in the soda made the cupcake light and airy, so it was pleasing overall. Was it the same as it would have been if I'd followed the box instructions? No. It was definitely not as rich. But it would pass if you're in a hurry and only have cake mix and soda on hand.
5. The smell in the kitchen was definitely of sweet soda. In my case, I used ginger ale, and when the cupcakes really got baking, the aroma was sugary and pleasant.
6. It was fast. This might be a no-brainer, but as far as what I did to produce the cupcakes, it was less measuring which equaled less time and even money (eggs and oil are probably more expensive than a can of soda). Also, it was fun to try this out. I'm interested in the other flavors. Root beer float cake? I'm in.
Overall, I would do this again. It was fast and easy, especially if I were in fact in a time crunch, and it was definitely a fun experiment. Next time I may try using a whisk to mix up the ingredients, and I will make a full cake instead of cupcakes. Please feel free to comment below if you've tried any of these recipes or know another good mixture of cake mix and soda. Thanks!
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