Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake Recipe

It is time to indulge, from the rich cocoa flavor in this dense cake to the gooey chocolate fudge frosting. This recipe for Cracker Barrel’s Double Chocolate Fudge Cake is a must-have for chocoholics. This dessert will have you dreaming of pleasing an eager crowd with its decadence — it’s sure to be a showstopper at your next gathering.

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Cracker Barrel Chocolate Cake Dessert

A massive hunk of double chocolate cake and an ice-cold glass of milk is a great snack. But cut that slice from a Cracker Barrel Double Fudge Coca-Cola Cake, and you have something truly extraordinary.

Double fudge coke cake has been a guest favorite at Cracker Barrel restaurants around the country for over twenty years, and a good reason. It is rich, moist, and delicious. Adding Coca-Cola to the cake batter not only lends a unique flavor to the cake but heightens the fudgy goodness of the chocolate.

Once you give the recipe below a try, Cracker Barrel Coca-cola cake will be one dessert your family will ask for again and again!

Why you should try this rich and moist cake.

You will be amazed at just how moist it is. It is an incredibly moist chocolate cake.

This recipe has Coca-Cola in the cake batter. This cake also contains buttermilk, baking soda, and dark cocoa. The result is a dense cake that is moist, and bursting with chocolate flavor. This cake will disappear once you serve it.

A Brief History of Coke Cake

Coca-Cola is such a cultural phenomenon in the South that most Southerners insist on referring to just about any soft drink brand as a ‘Coke.’ The drink to become Coca-Cola was first developed in Columbus, Georgia, by John S. Pemberton, a bankrupt pharmacist and morphine addict, as a knockoff of the famous French health tonic Vin Mariani.

He marketed his drink as Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, a non-carbonated combination of red wine and cocaethylene (a preparation of cocaine). It sold well locally, but when Atlanta, Georgia, passed anti-alcohol legislation in 1885, Pemberton started work on a non-alcoholic version of his tonic.

Soon after developing the new recipe, Pemberton passed away. The formula for the non-alcoholic version of the drink wound up in the hands of Asa G. Candler, who considerably increased the drink’s popularity.

Fast-forward 50 years, and recipes for cakes containing Coca-Cola began cropping up in newspapers and magazines in the South. Still, it wasn’t until 1997 that Cracker Barrel modified the traditional Coke cake recipe and introduced it as a menu item.

A Buttermilk Substitution

Today’s buttermilk is not the same ingredient that your great great grandmother had in her kitchen. Traditional buttermilk is that watery, yellow liquid leftover after churning butter. But these days, people buy buttermilk at the store. Sadly, the stuff in the cartons is not real buttermilk, just regular milk cultured with a little lactic acid bacteria.

This recipe calls for only half of a cup of buttermilk, and unless you use buttermilk regularly, it is a shame to run to the store to buy it. Use it if you have it on hand, but you can make a perfectly suitable substitution if not.

Combine a half-cup of milk with a half tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar. Mix and leave on the counter for five to ten minutes until it begins to curdle. Stir to combine and add to the cake batter.

Ingredients for the Cracker Barrel Double Chocolate Fudge Cola-Cola Cake

Here’s what you need to make Coca-Cola chocolate cake:

• Butter
• Coca Cola
• Semi-sweet baking chocolate square
• Miniature marshmallows
• Shortening
• Vegetable oil
• Sugar
• Large eggs
• Vanilla
• Buttermilk
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Cocoa powder
• Powdered sugar
• Heavy cream

You can use regular cocoa, but you may want to try dark cocoa like this King Author Double Dark Cocoa.

How to Make Cracker Barrel Coca-Cola Cake

1. Place butter, coke, and chocolate square in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and add marshmallows. Stir until marshmallows are completely melted, and all is blended. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

3. Blend the shortening, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.
4. Add eggs and buttermilk and beat until smooth.
5. In another bowl, whisk the flour with baking soda, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the shortening and egg mixture, and beat until well blended.
7. Add cooled Coca-Cola mixture and beat well.
8. Add the rest of the flour and beat until completely smooth.

9. Pour batter into a 13 X 9 X 2-inch greased and floured baking pan.
10. Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes.
11. Cream margarine, cocoa, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.
12. Slowly add cream or milk. Add in vanilla.
13. Spread frosting over warm cake.
14. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and enjoy.

Tips For Making Cracker Barrel Coca-Cola Cake

• You can freeze buttermilk. Don’t waste any of your buttermilk. Freeze the buttermilk in an ice cube tray and store it in a freezer bag. A standard ice cube is about one ounce. Defrost in the microwave or allow to thaw overnight in the fridge.
• Make sure the double chocolate Coca-Cola cake is done. Double-check by sticking a toothpick in the cake center. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is ready.
• You may want to use the frosting for other chocolate cakes and cupcakes. This frosting is super easy to make.
• Add about 1 1/2 cups of pecans to the frosting recipe if you like.

I know you are bound to fall in love with this just as much as my family has. This cake is great for birthday parties, potlucks, and holiday celebrations.

How to Store Double Fudge Chocolate Cake

You can leave this cake loosely wrapped with plastic on your counter. You do not need to refrigerate this cake. It will stay fresh for two to three days.

Love Cracker Barrel desserts? Try these copycat recipes!

• Pumpkin Custard
• Banana Pudding
• Chocolate Pecan Pie

Popular Homemade Cake Recipes

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Be sure to take a look at my easy cake recipes and the best Cracker Barrel copycat recipes.

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Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake

You can make the Cracker Barrel Double Chocolate Fudge Coca Cola Cake at home with this copycat recipe.

5 from 12 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Coca-Cola Cake, Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake, Cracker Barrel Recipes

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 747kcal

Author: Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

• 4 ounces butter
• 1 cup Coca Cola
• 1 ounce baking chocolate 1 square
• 3/4 cup miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cocoa

Frosting Ingredients

• 1/4 pound butter
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place in a saucepan butter, coke, semi-sweet baking square and bring to a boil remove from heat and add marshmallows and stir until all is blended and the marshmallows are disappear. Set aside to cool enough to tepid or room temperature. 
• In mixing bowl blend the shortening, oil, vanilla, and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and buttermilk and beat until smooth. In another bowl mix flour with baking soda, cocoa, baking powder and salt, add half of the flour mixture to shortening, egg mixture, and beat. Scrape bowl time to time to clean the sides off so ingredients are blended in the batter. Add cooled coca-cola mixture and beat. Add remainder of flour and beat until completely smooth about 3 – 4 minutes. The batter will be thick. Place batter into a 13″ x 9″ x ” 2 greased and floured baking pan. Set pan on top shelf in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 35 – 40 minutes. Check for completed baking time with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean by sticking in the middle of the cake its time to come out of the oven and cool.
• Frosting In a bowl cream together margarine, cocoa, and powdered sugar. Slowly add the 6 tablespoons of cream or milk. Add in vanilla. Frost warm cake. Serve with natural vanilla bean ice cream and enjoy.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 747kcal | Carbohydrates: 99g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 359mg | Potassium: 233mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 74g | Vitamin A: 645IU | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 2.7mg