Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions to learn how to make our three ingredient cake recipe and three ingredient frosting. Printable recipe included.
A box of cake mix, egg, and a bottle of Sprite® are all you need to make the layers for this cake. Perfect for St. Patricks’ Day celebrations, or just to welcome in Spring.
The idea of a two ingredient cake really caught my attention recently. It called for a box of cake mix and a can of soda, or soda pop as some folks call it. How easy is that?
After searching out comments on the cake, I read many that said the cake was good, but it was a bit crumbly. It doesn’t have anything to bind the ingredients together. That’s why I’m adding a couple of eggs to this recipe.
You really need to try this one day soon. Follow the basic two ingredient recipe and make it as a sheet cake to at least see how easy it is. It’s a great recipe to do with the kids, and you could make it into cupcakes if you like.
I decided to try this and turn it into a recipe for Spring and St. Patricks’ Day. I’m so ready for Spring and warmer weather. How about you?
The frosting is just as easy as the cake. Only three ingredients in that.
I flavored my frosting with Lemon Juice and Lime Juice combined together. You could use water instead of the juice and add a teaspoon of Vanilla flavoring if you prefer that. There are lots of possibilities with both the cake and the frosting. I hope you’ll try it soon.
Ready to give our recipe a try? Alright then, let’s head on out to the kitchen, and… Let’s Get Cooking!
Lemon-Lime Soda Cake Recipe – You’ll need these ingredients.
I’m making a 3 layer cake so I’m doubling the recipe as normally called for. The basic recipe for a cola or soda cake is one box of cake mix and one can of soda. That’s all you need.
I read various comments on the Internet about the basic cake, and most of those talked about the cake being crumbly. I decided to add two eggs to try and bind the batter a bit more to stand up to my three layer cake.
Place two boxes of cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Remember, I’m making an 8 inch, three layer cake.
Add two eggs.
Add one 16oz bottle of Sprite Lemon-Lime Soda.
I found that I only needed ONE bottle of Sprite even though I have two pictured in the photo of ingredients above.
Using a mixer on low speed, mix all the ingredients together just until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Do not overmix.
Prepare three 8inch cake pans. Lightly grease and flour the inside of each pan as desired.
I used a baking spray for my pans. It already contains some flour. I sprayed the interior of all the pans, then placed a sheet of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and sprayed the parchment paper as well.
The parchment paper allows for the cake layers to be removed from the pan without sticking. Well worth the cost of the paper in my opinion. Smile.
Divide the batter between the pans.
If you’ll note in the photo above, I’m using the Wilton Bake-Even Cake Strips. These have been soaked in water, then placed around the outside of the cake pans just before going into the oven. This helps keep that dome from forming in the middle of your cake layers as they bake. Another item well worth the cost if you do very much cake making at all.
Pre-heat your oven to 350F degrees.
Bake the layers at 350F degrees between 30 and 40 minutes or until done. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake to test for doneness. If the toothpick has some crumbs attached when you pull it out, the layers need to bake a few minutes more. If you don’t see any crumbs, remove the baked layers from the oven.
Place the baked layers on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
Once the layers have cooled 10 minutes, turn them out of the pan and place the layers on the wire racks to cool completely.
Lemon-Lime Cake Frosting – You’ll need these ingredients.
NOTE: I used a mixture of Lime Juice and Lemon Juice to make the frosting for my cake.
Sift the 2lb. bag of sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer. Careful, it will fly everywhere. Smile.
Add 1-1/3 cups of Crisco Shortening to the sifted sugar.
Add 1/4th cup of juice. I mixed this to be about half Lime juice and half Lemon Juice.
You could also make this frosting using water instead of juice. You can then add one teaspoon of Vanilla flavoring or any other flavor you desire.
Start on Low speed so you don’t spread sugar all over the place. Trust me on this one. Smile.
Increase the speed to Medium and mix the frosting until its fully combined and fluffy. You can add more juice, or more sugar depending on whether you need a stiffer or softer frosting. Just add any additional ingredients very gradually.
Assemble the cake.
I placed a cardboard cake circle on my cake decorating turntable. Then, I placed a dab of frosting in the center of that board. Sheets of parchment were placed around the frosting in the center to help keep the board clean while frosting and decorating the cake.
Having said that, the parchment sheets caused me serious problems when I tried to remove them later. My layers were very moist on the top of the layer. I placed the first layer top side down and it stuck to the paper. My cake tried to fall when I removed the paper later. This was the first time I’d had this to happen. Just saying.
Place the first layer, top side down, on the cake board. Center the layer on the board.
Spread a fairly thick layer of frosting on top of the first layer.
Repeat the process, adding the second layer and spreading frosting on it. Then, add the third layer and spread frosting over the top of the cake.
Spread frosting around the outside of the cake. Smooth as desired.
Decorate your cake any way you prefer. I’m sure you can do far better than me. I’ve always wanted to learn how to decorate a cake, but never have. Cake decorating is a talent I just don’t seem to have.
I made another small batch of frosting and then colored some of it yellow and some of it green to try to decorate my cake. I think the colors are great for Spring, and especially with St. Patricks’ Day coming up soon.
The citrus juice cut the sweetness of all the sugar in the frosting. Mine had more of a Lemon flavor than anything else, but everyone that tried it said they liked it. Smile.
Enjoy!
Surprise! I didn’t mention it earlier, but I added some green food coloring to the last bit of batter before I poured it in the pan. I thought it looked cool.
The cake was still crumbly even after I added two eggs into the batter. But, it stayed fresh for several days beyond the day that I made it. I just kept it covered and left it out on the counter.
If I were to make another cola cake, I think I’d just make it as a sheet cake. Both the cake layers and the frosting are simple and easy. I do hope you’ll try it soon.
