Dr Pepper Cake for Two. A small moist chocolate cake made with Dr Pepper and a warm chocolate glaze!
Once upon a time, I lived in Waco, Texas. I went to college at Baylor, and my parents moved me two hours south of Dallas into this small town of Waco.
It was quite a shock, going from the big city to such a small town with only two grocery store options. Not that anyone complains about HEB, though.
The only thing I had heard about Waco before going to school was that it housed the Dr Pepper museum. That my beloved beverage was invented in Waco and a museum honored its existence.
The best part about the Dr Pepper museum, and not they do not serve Dr Pepper cake, is that they feature the soda made with cane sugar.
Most soda in the market these days is now made with the cheaper, easier-to-use high fructose corn syrup. It's okay, but Dr Pepper is really special when it's made the old fashioned way, with cane sugar.
The 'real sugar' version of Dr Pepper is abundant in Waco; it's a bit of a religion. Wait, we really shouldn't talk about religion when it comes to Waco, Texas, hah.
I miss the real stuff for making my Dr Pepper Cake!
Anyway, I didn't know how much I would miss the access to real Dr Pepper when I graduated and moved away.
I can almost still taste the real Dr Pepper. I make this Dr Pepper cake as an homage to the way I remember Dr Pepper tasting.
This Dr Pepper cake isn't a new recipe; making cake with soda is an old thing. The soda makes for an unbelievably moist and tender cake! It has buttermilk, which makes the best chocolate cake, in my opinion. Plus, you only need a small can of Dr Pepper to make this cake. You won't use the whole can; enjoy the rest while the cake bakes.
Dr Pepper chocolate cake has the best frosting.
I love chocolate cakes that feature a warm frosting to pour on top right when it comes out of the oven. It reminds me of my Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake. The frosting you use for a warm glaze like this has a high percentage of powdered sugar so that it sets almost into a flaky fudge style frosting. It's perfection.
I bake this cake in this 6" round pan to make a small cake that serves two with 4 mini slices.
I hope you love this little slice of Waco in this Dr Pepper chocolate cake for two!
Dr Pepper Cake
Makes 1 small 6" cake with Dr Pepper in the filling and frosting.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup flour
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- ¼ cup Dr. Pepper (don't use diet)
For the frosting:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoon cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons Dr. Pepper
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and grease a 6" round cake pan or spray with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, beat together with an electric mixer the butter and sugar until fluffy and well-combined, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another small bowl, stir together the Dr. Pepper and buttermilk.
- Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until lightly combined. Add half of the buttermilk-soda mixture and continue beating. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by the last of the buttermilk-soda mixture. Finally, add the last of the flour mixture and beat until combined.
- Scrap the batter into the cake pan, and bake on a baking sheet for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with only a few crumbs clinging and the cake starts to pull away fromt he sides of the pan.
- Once you pull the cake from the oven, begin making the icing (and not a minute before). In a small bowl, melt the butter, cocoa powder and Dr. Pepper in the microwave. Once the butter is melted and the mixture slightly bubbles, pour in the powdered sugar and little at a time, whisking vigorously by hand. When all the powdered sugar is incorporated, pour the warm frosting over the warm cake. Let cool slightly before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 349Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 186mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 1gSugar: 34gProtein: 3g
Cathy @ Noble Pig says
As the afternoon wanes away...I would do anything for a bite of this!!!!
Kimby says
Christina, it was wonderful to wake up to a dose of wise advice, along with a great cake recipe! I'm not much of a soda drinker, but the "throw back" versions of ANY of them taste SOOOO much better, especially Dr. Pepper!
Taliah says
I've been cooking cakes with soda, but diet soda lately (I'm on weight watchers) is there a reason why you shouldn't use diet dr. pepper in this recipe?
Christina says
Hi Taliah! The only reason I say don't use Diet is because I didn't test it for this recipe. My concern is that the artificial sugar might have a weird chemical reaction. I've seen The Novice Chef Blog make brownies with diet cherry coke, so maybe it'll still work? No guarantees! Let me know :)
Taliah says
Thank you so so so much for such a fast response!! I'm going to make it this weekend and have my tester (my boyfriend was forced to being my experiment tester, lol) try it out! I'll let you know how it turns out!!
Thank you so much! And your blog is fab!!
Dena says
Made this this weekend for my mom's birthday - Dr. Pepper is her fav. You couldn't taste the DP at all, but it was very moist and yummy and enjoyed by all. I love your small size recipes. It allowed me to make several recipes for my small party and we could all sample each one. Thanks!
Amber says
Yay! I love your website! I made this cake today & it came out perfectly! Just the right size for my family of 3. My only complaint, you need more recipes! ;) You should work on a Boston Cream Pie. That's my fav. :)
Katherine a says
Can you substitute the dr pepper with coca cola?
Christina Lane says
Sure, Katherine! Let me know how it goes :)
Poppy says
I use Dunken Hines German chocolate mix,your icing
RossC says
Just found this on your FB page...
My Jeannie loves DR. Pepper... Going to bake this for her... :O)
Teresa says
OMG!! This is wonderful, all I've ever had was the big recipe. Since I'm a widow now I quit baking it. Loved Dr. Pepper cake for MANY years and now I can have it again. Bless you darlin' for your time and effort.????