I saw this on an infomercial and was wondering if it actually does work
Basically if you have a cake mix that uses an egg(s) and oil you just substitute a can of diet cola (or diet sprite for white cake) and it takes the place of the eggs and oil.
Does this really work?
If so why?
While I’ve heard of 7-Up cake for decades, I’ve never actually made one, and now I’m curious, too.
I saw this infomercial too! I’m curious as well.
Yep, it’s an old Weight Watchers trick. The bubbles from the soda’s carbonation take over the leavening role of the eggs, and with the added sweetness, you don’t miss the lack of fat. (Just like Snackwell’s took fat out of cookies and replaced it with sugar during the height of the low fat craze.)
I’ve tried a few combinations, and my favorite is white cake with ginger ale. That one’s not so sweet as some of the other combos I’ve tried.
So it would work equally well with a non-diet cola?
This is surprisingly good. Cupcakes work better than cakes in pans. This cake is a bit fragile, and if you bake it in a pan and try to cut it, it tends to fall apart.
My fave: lemon cake mix with Sunkist diet orange soda.
Yes, it will. That’s the original idea; both Coke and 7-Up featured recipes for “their” cakes, once upon a time, and both suggested regular soda (I think that was before there *was *any diet except Tab.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if it works. I’ve used a tempura recipe that uses seltzer instead of eggs, and it works great.
“Dump cake”, which is an old campfire favorite baked in a dutch oven, uses soda, pie filling, a box of cake mix, and butter. I’ve always had it with regular soda, but I guess diet would work, too. Chocolate/cherry/Coca-Cola is really good, as is white/peach/ginger ale.
If you use diet soda, use Diet Rite or Waist Watchers or one of the ones with Splenda. Cooking with Nutrasweet is bad juju.
If bad juju means it will lose its sweetness, then sure. It’s not less safe.