This 3-ingredient orange Soda Cake is light, fluffy, and topped with a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. Mix and match different soda flavors to make it your own!
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Pin RecipeFeaturing vanilla box cake mix, orange soda, and canned cream cheese frosting, this orange Soda Cake recipe couldn’t be any more failproof! Of course, you can make your own homemade cake mix and cream cheese frosting. However, if you need a delicious dessert and don’t have a lot of time, this is the recipe for you!
The orange soda adds flavor to this cake. However, it also activates the leavening agents (like baking soda and baking powder) in the box cake mix to help it rise in the oven.
As a result, the result is a light, fluffy cake with a crumbly texture. Don’t worry, though! The cream cheese frosting holds everything together! You’ll have a gourmet-tasting cake ready to eat with minimal prep time and a total time of just over 30 minutes.
Soda Cake Recipe
This recipe is a fun dessert that’s as easy as 1-2-3. Get creative by experimenting with different types of soda depending on your flavor preference. My 7Up Cake recipe, Coca-Cola Cake, 7UP Pound Cake, and Dr. Pepper Cherry Cola Cake show you how to pair sodas with different flavors of cake for an irresistible dessert.
Simple to prepare, this recipe is perfect for birthday parties, holiday celebrations, or a midweek treat! Serve it on its own or alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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Ingredients for Soda Cake
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Box cake mix – Any white or vanilla cake mix will do. You could even use yellow cake mix for a brighter orange hue to the baked cake. Homemade Cake Mix is another option!
- Orange soda – Any brand of orange soda will taste great
- Cream cheese frosting – Canned cream cheese frosting is super convenient, but you can also make your own cream cheese frosting from scratch.
Variations
- One of the easiest ways to adapt this soda cake recipe is by using a different flavored soda. You can have a lot of fun experimenting with cream soda, grape soda for a “purple cow”-inspired cake, lemon-lime soda, ginger ale, root beer, or Cherry Coke!
- Use a different flavored cake mix to pair with your preferred soda. For instance, a chocolate cake mix would pair beautifully with cherry Coke!
- Use gluten-free cake mix to cater to allergies.
- Bake your cake in a 9-inch bundt pan instead of a 9×13-inch cake pan, and leave off the cream cheese frosting. A soda bundt cake looks very pretty, but it’s worth noting that it can crumble apart a little more than when making this cake in a 9×13 baking pan. Make sure to spray the bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray, followed by a light dusting of flour.
- Intensify the orange flavor in this cake by adding orange extract or some orange zest to the batter, cream cheese frosting, or both!
How to Make Soda Cake
- Prepare: Preheat the oven, and grease the baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Make the cake batter: Combine the cake mix and the orange soda in a mixing bowl, and beat until thick and smooth.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of the baked cake to ensure it has cooked properly.
- Frost and serve: Allow the cake to cool in the pan. Then, spread the cream cheese frosting across the top. Slice, and serve!
Quick Tip
Allowing the cake to cool in the pan helps the cake to retain its structure. Make sure the cake has cooled enough so that the cream cheese frosting doesn’t melt when spread across the top of the cake!
How to Store Soda Cake
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight when ready to serve.
FAQs
The soda provides flavor and bubbles in the form of carbon dioxide which activates any leavening agents in the dry cake mix, such as baking soda or baking powder. This makes the cake light and fluffy.
The soda doesn’t necessarily replace eggs in cake mix since the two ingredients have very different properties. That said, the orange soda does add moisture to the batter, much like eggs would. Since eggs act as a binder and provide structure, you may find this soda cake slightly more crumbly than a cake recipe which calls for the addition of eggs.
This soda cake will naturally be more crumbly than a traditional cake made with eggs because there isn’t much of a binding agent providing structure. The cream cheese frosting does a good job of keeping the sliced pieces of cake from falling apart, which is why I prefer making this cake in a 9×13-inch pan instead of a bundt pan.
More Soda-Inspired Recipes
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Soda Cake
Equipment
- 9×13 pan
- Electric hand mixer
- Rubber spatula
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 (15.25 ounce) box cake mix
- 1 (12 ounce) Orange soda can
- 1 (16 ounce) container of cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a 9×13 baking pan with baking spray.
- Add the dry cake mix and orange soda to a medium sized bowl and beat together with a hand mixer until the batter is thick and smooth.1 (15.25 ounce) box cake mix, 1 (12 ounce) Orange soda can
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread until it is even.
- Bake the cake for 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake will come out cleanly.
- Let the cake cool in the pan then spread the cream cheese frosting across the top of the cake. Slice and serve!1 (16 ounce) container of cream cheese frosting
