Cola Tube Cake with Pecan Frosting

This is a Southern chocolate cake tradition that took the South by storm in the 1960s when Coca-Cola executives discovered their syrup made cake batter sing. A full cup of cola goes into the batter, and another six tablespoons go into the pecan frosting. The carbonation acts as a tenderizer, while the caramel notes in the cola deepen the cocoa flavor and lend a subtle vanilla-spice background.

Mini marshmallows are the unexpected ingredient that defines this version. Stirred into the dry mix, they melt during baking into gooey pockets that distribute throughout the cake like sweet cushions. Some sink to the bottom and create a fudgy stratum that’s pure dessert nostalgia.

The boiling-fat-pour technique is borrowed from Texas sheet cakes and is what gives this cake its dense, brownie-like crumb. Bringing the shortening, butter, cocoa, and cola to a boil in a saucepan, then pouring the hot mixture over the dry ingredients before adding eggs and buttermilk, creates a unique batter that bakes into something halfway between cake and fudge.

The frosting is poured warm over the cooled cake, where it sets into a soft pecan-studded glaze. Don’t reheat it as the recipe notes; reheated frosting goes grainy.

Pro Tips

• Use full-sugar Coca-Cola or Pepsi, not diet; the sugar content matters for the cake’s structure and caramelization.
• Pour the boiling fat mixture immediately over the flour and stir quickly; let it cool too long and you lose the heat-activated cocoa bloom that deepens the chocolate flavor.
• Cool the cake completely in the pan before frosting; warm cake melts the icing into a runny mess.
• Don’t skip the buttermilk; the acid keeps the crumb tender against all that sugar.

Variations

• Sub root beer for cola for a vanilla-spice note instead of cola caramel.
• Add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the batter for a more intense chocolate hit.
• Use walnuts or hazelnuts in place of pecans in the frosting.