Cola cake recipe

This fun cola cake is infused with and inspired by the fizzy drink. Kids will love decorating this cake with their favourite sweets. 

The method for this cake is the same as most sponge cakes. It involves creaming butter and sugar until fluffy and then folding in the remaining ingredients. We’ve flavoured the sponge with some orange zest to compliment the cola flavour but lemon, lime, vanilla and cherry would also work well. 

Ingredients

• 175g (6oz) caster sugar
• 175g (6oz) softened butter
• 3 eggs
• 175g (6oz) self-raising flour
• 3/4 level tsp baking powder
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange

For the drizzle:

• 150ml Coca-Cola

For the decoration:

• 100g icing sugar
• 2tsp water
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Colin the Caterpillar Cola Gums (42.5g)
• Fizzy Cola bottles (21g)
• 1 tbsp Cola flavoured popping candy, optional

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Grease and line a loaf tin with a sheet of baking paper.
2. In a large bowl cream together the sugar and butter. Once light and fluffy and an egg, one at a time and beat well between each addition. Fold in the flour, baking powder and orange zest.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and promptly place it on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown, shrinking away from the sides of the tin and springy to touch.
4. Meanwhile, place the Coca-cola in a small saucepan and heat until reduced by half and thicker. Set aside.
5. Put the cake on a wire rack with a tray underneath to catch any excess drizzle. Poke several holes over the top and pour over the Coca-cola syrup and allow it to soak in.
6. Once the cake is completely cool, make the icing for the decoration. Mix the icing sugar in a small bowl with the water and vanilla extract until smooth. Pipe or pour over the cake then top with a selection of cola-flavoured sweets.

Top tips for making Cola cake

This cake is easy to make with the kids and can be adapted to use your favourite fizzy pop. You could make the cake into cupcakes for a children’s party and let the little ones decorate their own cake with a selection of pick and mix sweets for a fun activity. Read our tips below to find out exactly how to get children involved and also how to store the cake once baked.

For this recipe you need to make Coca-cola syrup for the cake soak. We like to use a small non-stick saucepan for this task as it’s lightweight and easy to clean. 

Gourmet Stainless Steel Milk Pan - View at ProCook

This 14cm saucepan has a capacity of 1.1 litres. It has two lips for pouring which is very useful when making the Coca-cola syrup but will be good for other recipes too. The non-stick coating makes it easy to clean and useful for things like caramel. The pan is oven-safe to 260C and can also be cleaned in the dishwasher if you want. It’s compatible with most hob-types including induction. 

For more fizzy pop inspired and infused bakes, you have to try our chocolate cola cake. Our coke float cupcakes are perfect for picnics and parties. For something less adventurous but undeniably easy and tasty, our lemon cake is the perfect bake.