WILLIAMS SONOMA COCOA RECIPES

Traditional Coca-Cola cake, a staple of the American South, usually comes in the form of a chocolate sheet cake that's doused in a gooey glaze. The batter is splashed with a bit of cola, sometimes for flavor but mostly for fluff; the soda's carbonation acts as a leavening agent, similar to baking soda or baking powder, helping the cake rise and come out light and airy. In her modern-day version, cookbook author Vallery Lomas flips tradition on its head by making a cola-flavored cake with cola-flavored icing. The key to Lomas' Cocoa Cola Bundt Cake is in the Coca-Cola syrup. Lomas concentrates the cola by reducing it with sugar and adding a bit of lemon juice, and then she mixes the resulting syrup into both the cake and the icing. "You get a more concentrated taste by using the syrup instead of straight-from-the-can Coca-Cola," Lomas says. Plus, the warming spices Lomas adds into the cake, like cinnamon and nutmeg, along with a dash of both orange and lemon zest, deepen the cake's chocolaty, cola-y flavor. Lomas takes her new-age cake one step further by baking it in a Bundt pan instead of a sheet pan. "It's just as easy but much more centerpiece- worthy." Although this cake could be paired with a glass of ice-cold Coca-Cola, Lomas recommends balancing the cake's sweetness with something warm and a bit bitter, like your favorite coffee or tea.

Provided by Vallery Lomas

Categories     Chocolate Cake

Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Number Of Ingredients 27

• Ingredients

Traditional Coca-Cola cake, a staple of the American South, usually comes in the form of a chocolate sheet cake that's doused in a gooey glaze. The batter is splashed with a bit of cola, sometimes for flavor but mostly for fluff; the soda's carbonation acts as a leavening agent, similar to baking soda or baking powder, helping the cake rise and come out light and airy. In her modern-day version, cookbook author Vallery Lomas flips tradition on its head by making a cola-flavored cake with cola-flavored icing. The key to Lomas' Cocoa Cola Bundt Cake is in the Coca-Cola syrup. Lomas concentrates the cola by reducing it with sugar and adding a bit of lemon juice, and then she mixes the resulting syrup into both the cake and the icing. "You get a more concentrated taste by using the syrup instead of straight-from-the-can Coca-Cola," Lomas says. Plus, the warming spices Lomas adds into the cake, like cinnamon and nutmeg, along with a dash of both orange and lemon zest, deepen the cake's chocolaty, cola-y flavor. Lomas takes her new-age cake one step further by baking it in a Bundt pan instead of a sheet pan. "It's just as easy but much more centerpiece- worthy." Although this cake could be paired with a glass of ice-cold Coca-Cola, Lomas recommends balancing the cake's sweetness with something warm and a bit bitter, like your favorite coffee or tea.

Provided by Vallery Lomas

Categories     Chocolate Cake

Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes

Number Of Ingredients 27

• Ingredients