Dr Pepper Cake Recipe
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This delicious Dr Pepper Cake is just what the doctor ordered.
Sugar, butter, chocolate, Dr. Pepper … enough said?
Almost.
My daughter is a big Dr. Pepper fan, so I had to try my own version of the chocolate cakes I’ve seen here and there with either Coke or Dr. Pepper added. And boy am I glad I tried it. This Dr Pepper Cake? It’s a must do. Rich and moist, and oh, so easy – there’s no excuse not to try it at least once. Just make sure you’ve got a group to bake it for, because it’s dangerous to have leftovers hanging around.
One of the things I like about this cake is the ease at which it comes together. Seriously simple. It bakes in 20-25 minutes and it’s gone in 10. All ingredients are combined in a saucepan and poured directly into a 13x9x2″ baking pan. Speaking of ingredients, for both the cake batter and frosting, I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder. It’s good stuff. I hope you can find some.
The process is fairly straight forward: Begin by combining the Dr. Pepper, oil, butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat. When it comes to a simmer, mix well and remove from heat. Mix dry ingredients together (sugar, flour and baking soda), add to saucepan and mix to combine. You don’t need to beat the heck out of it. It will be a little lumpy at first but just mix well until combined. In a separate small bowl lightly beat the eggs and buttermilk together then add them to the saucepan. Combine batter well and pour into a greased baking pan and bake at 350-degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.
The frosting works the same way. Combine butter, cocoa powder and milk together in a saucepan, over medium heat, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time, combining after each addition until smooth. Pour frosting over warm cake. Yum.
While the frosting is mighty yummy, I think the cake is quite tasty without it, or maybe just with a little dusting of powdered sugar and a tall glass of milk. So what are you waiting for? Go grab a Dr. Pepper and get to work! Enjoy! And let me know how it turns out.
Looking for more chocolate recipes? Here are a few that we enjoy:
- Flourless Chocolate Brownies
- Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Espresso Glaze
- Easy Chocolate Biscotti Recipe
Dr Pepper Cake Recipe
Dr. Pepper Cake Recipe
A delicious chocolate cake with warm frosting made with dark chocolate and Dr. Pepper.
Ingredients
For cake:
- 1 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper soda
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 stick salted butter (8 tablespoons)
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder (again, I used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
For frosting:
- 1 stick salted butter (8 tablespoons)
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 8 tablespoons milk
- 4 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
Instructions
For cake:
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F and grease or spray with cooking spray a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
- Begin by combining the Dr. Pepper, oil, butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat. When it comes to a simmer, mix well and turn stove off.
- Mix dry ingredients together (sugar, flour and baking soda), add to mixture in saucepan and mix well, by hand. Don’t over beat. DO NOT OVER BEAT.
- In a separate small bowl lightly beat the eggs and buttermilk together, then add them to the saucepan and combine batter well by hand, but again, do not over beat.
- Pour into a greased baking pan and bake at 350-degrees for approx. 23-28 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.
For frosting:
- In a saucepan, combine butter, cocoa powder and milk together over medium heat, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time, combining after each addition until smooth.
- Pour over warm cake.
- Lock all the doors, draw the shades, don’t answer the phone and get the milk.
Updated January 18, 2015. Originally posted March 9, 2010.
Wowee! Tried this tonight for a bonfire night party (5th November, I’m English!) and it went down a treat 😀 My cake didn’t turn out as fluffy, it was more like a well-baked brownie, but delicious!!
Do you think this would work in a bundt pan?
This cake looks absolutely amazing 🙂 I might use this recipe for a friends birthday, but I want to make cupcakes, whats a good estimate time/and/temperature for the cupcakes to bake?
I just made a similar cake to this, but it was vanilla vegan Dr. Pepper cupcakes. I baked it at 350 for 16 minutes and it came out great!
Made cake pops with this cake recipe and a dr. pepper frosting recipe from another site. Turned out AMAZING!!! I always cut the sugar in 1/2 with scratch recipes because I don’t like it TOO sweet, turned out perfect that way and i’m saving this recipe to use in the future, very yum!!
Very good but very rich in flavor. I made one with dark Cocoa and one with regular cocoa. I also recommend special dark cocoa, the regular flavored cocoa is much too sweet.
What is Dr. Pepper? Im from South Africa – dont know. thanks.
It’s a carbonated drink with a hint of spice.
do I use white sugar for this recipe or brown sugar
do I use white sugar or brown sugar for this recipe
I love this idea! I’ve seen soda + boxed cake mixes, which are meh. But soda + homemade cake? I’m so there! My boyfriend loooves Dr. Pepper, so this is definitely one to make in the near future 🙂
It would be a perfect cake for your Valentine on Valentine’s Day!
Yum! I’ll take a slice please! Looks fantastic!!!
Come on up! I’ll have a slice waiting.
We have a lot of Dr. Pepper fans in this house. My boys will love this. (Me too!) Thanks for the great recipe!
Oh, my!!! I am a huge Dr. Pepper fan, so this is a definite must make for sure!! It looks amazing!!!
This is on my weekly baking list now! I’m thinking the Doc P must be amazing in this creation of yours Amy ❤️
Tried this recipe today and followed instructions to the T but the cake did not rise beyond 3/4″. The frosting was also very soupy. The only positive was that the cake was moist and very good tasting.
Hi there! I made this for the first time today, and it’s also my first time making a cake recipe on the stove (if that makes sense). With the glaze being poured on hot, is it supposed to soak through the cake? It seemed like an awful lot of glaze. When I went to sample a piece, the leftover glaze pooled at the bottom of the pan. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious! I just wanted to make sure I did everything right 🙂 thanks!
Since the cake may be still warm and the frosting is warm, yes it will soak a bit into the cake and pool in the bottom like that. If you’d rather it not, you can let the cake totally cool, and let the frosting/glaze cool down quite a bit.
okay, thank you! and thank you for the speedy reply!
You’re welcome, Rebecca.
I followed the recipe exactly…even with the special dark cocoa powder, and it came out great!! I do have a thermometer in my oven–it’s at least 40 years old and can be temperamental!! I turned off the oven at 23 minutes and let it sit for a few more just because my toothpick wasn’t completely clean. I made it to celebrate our friends’ 40th anniversary–Texas couple, so Dr. Pepper was an ideal ingredient. Thanks for posting–I am sure I’ll be sharing the link and will be asked to make it again!!
I hope y’all enjoyed it, Cheryl!
Could you also use Dr Pepper in the frosting instead of the milk? This would give it even more flavor.
Hi
I am in New Zealand
Sorry for my ignorance but what exactly is Dr Pepper?
Is there a substitute that I can use in New Zealand?
Thanks Suzy
It is sort of similar to root beer. A dark cola can be substituted.
Has anyone tried this with diet Dr. Pepper? I don’t have any regular at the moment!
Is it Plain flour or self-raising flour and is it granulated or caster sugar used
Use all-purpose flour (plain flour) and granulated sugar.
Great but too much frosting, I’d halve it next time.