The Retro Chocolate Cake So Good I’ll “Bake It Again Immediately”

Despite being a professional baker, I’m a huge fan of cake mix hacks that make me feel like a kitchen genius. Separately, I also adore a Coke float as much as any fancy dessert.

When I found this Betty Crocker recipe for Chocolate-Cherry Cola Cake, I quickly put it on my Must Bake list. It didn’t take long for me to make this cake for friends!

I was delighted that the maraschino cherry-studded devil’s food cake, partnered with the marshmallow-y frosting, made for a dessert that was so simple but had the most delicious soda float-inspired taste.

Here’s why (and how) I’ll be making this cola cake again.

What’s in This Chocolate-Cherry Cola Cake?

The simplest way to make a boxed cake taste homemade is to upgrade one of the back-of-the-box ingredients. This recipe from Betty Crocker uses cherry cola instead of the water called for on her Devil’s Food Cake Mix packaging.

Not only does the soda add depth to the cake mix, but the bubbles increase the leavening, making the crumb even more tender and fluffy. Because this mix has a strong chocolate flavor, the cola’s cherry flavor does get a little lost. To bring back a burst of red fruit, the recipe has you fold in a whole jar of chopped maraschino cherries into the cake batter. Surprisingly, I loved the texture they added.

How I Upgraded Betty Crocker’s Chocolate-Cherry Cola Cake 

I like to replace the vegetable oil with melted butter for a richer and moister cake. In this recipe, I replaced the oil with one stick of melted and cooled unsalted butter.

The Betty Crocker recipe also calls for blending a tub of its Whipped Vanilla Frosting with a 7-ounce jar of marshmallow creme. After trying this once for guests, I decided that if I was going to dirty a bowl for mixing, I’d rather make my own marshmallow frosting.

To make a from-scratch marshmallow buttercream for a 9×13-inch cake (like this one), use a hand mixer to cream one cup (two sticks) of room temperature butter and one cup of powdered sugar. Whip in a seven-ounce jar of marshmallow creme, a splash of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.

This is super fluffy and has a nostalgic cherry cola float feeling, especially if you top each slice with a couple of stemmed maraschino cherries. (I used Filthy red cherries, which was a fun splurge.)

When I served this cake to friends after dinner, it disappeared so quickly that people requested I bake it again immediately. That’s how I know I’ll be making this simple but fancy-looking cake again soon!