Are You Ready for Some Retro -- Two Ingredient Creamsicle Cake

Can something called Creamsicle Cake, made with Just. Two. Ingredients be easy, delicious and company-worthy?  Oh yeah, babe-ee!
The theme for my final summer cooking program, held at the local library, was retro desserts.  This orange-flavored cake was the hit of the hour.

Nothing says 60s like orange-colored anything.  Like this creamsicle cake, so named due to its orange-y hue.  Serve with pride to your friends, and watch them devour it all.   No one will believe that there are only two ingredients - cake mix and a can of soda.    So let's just keep it a secret between us, m'kay?

No butter.  No oil.  No eggs.  No milk.  Just a box of mix and a can of soda, like I said.  Dump your favorite cake mix in a mixing bowl, pour in your fave soda, mix, pour and bake.  For a totally optional finish, guild with a third ingredient:  some powdered sugar or (in keeping with the easy theme, a can of) frosting.  Done and done.

 To go with the retro theme, I used a plain white cake and a can of orange soda, but you can vary the ingredients to your hearts content.     I've heard that it even works with diet soda!  Be sure to check the cake ingredients if you have dietary restrictions since some mixes contain dairy or eggs. Otherwise, the sky's the limit!

Speaking of sky, this cake does not rise as high as a cake made with eggs, so you can get away with just one cake pan.  As you can see, I made use of a tube pan because it looked cool, and because if I weren't lazy I could pile fruit in the center to make it semi-healthy.


Two-Ingredient Soda Cake
Adapted from: foodnetwork.com and Bettycrocker.com
Yield: 12 servings
Note: a few suggestion variations: orange, root beer or lemon-lime with white cake mix, or  Dr. Pepper and chocolate cake mix

1 box cake mix, flavor of choice
1 can (12 oz) can of soda, also flavor of choice, room temperature
Optional: frosting or confectioners’ sugar


Preheat oven as per cake mix directions.   Grease and flour one 9 or 10-inch cake pan, or a medium-sized tube pan.

In large bowl, beat dry cake mix and soda with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, then increase to medium speed and continue to beat another 2 minutes, scraping side of bowl as needed with a spatula . Pour into prepared cake pan.

Bake according to box directions (start to check about 10 minutes before it's supposed to be done), or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Place cake in pan on wire rack.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Carefully remove from pan; cool completely, about 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending upon how hot your kitchen is.

If desired, cover with frosting or dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.