There's chocolate cake… and then there's Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake. This is the Cracker Barrel copycat everyone talks about, the fudgy Southern sheet cake that shows up warm, rich, and dripping with chocolate frosting. No box mix, no fancy layers - just old-fashioned flavor and a wink of nostalgia in every bite. It's the kind of cake that makes you want to grab a fork and claim the corner piece before anyone else gets wise.
Table of Contents
❤️ Why this Coca-Cola cake is worth every fudgy bite
Easy to make, impossible to resist, and guaranteed to disappear faster than sweet tea on a hot Texas afternoon.
- Coca-Cola + buttermilk = the moistest cake this side of your grandma's Sunday table.
- Gooey fudge frosting that basically dares you not to lick the pan.
- Easy enough for a Tuesday night, impressive enough to make your in-laws hush.
- Cracker Barrel's version walked so this cake could strut.
🧾 What you'll need to bake this cake
This isn't the Cracker Barrel Coca-Cola cake - it's richer, fudgier, and way more chocolatey. Pinkie swear.
- Flour - the backbone of every good cake.
- Cocoa - go dark, go rich, go big or go home.
- Eggs - hold it all together like the duct tape of baking.
- Baking soda - because flat cake is just a brownie with commitment issues.
- Chocolate chips - fudgy little bursts of happiness.
- Sugar - regular, not that fancy "organic cane" nonsense.
- Butter - real butter, not margarine. We're not savages.
- Vanilla - the quiet hero in the background.
- Coca-Cola - full strength, not the sugar-free stuff (we're baking cake, not going on a diet).
- Buttermilk - tangy magic that makes everything moist.
- Oil - keeps things tender and soft.
- Powdered sugar - the base of that gooey frosting you'll want to eat with a spoon.
Want more FAQs, tips, variations, and storage ideas? Be sure to download the free Double Fudge Coca Cola Cake Kitchen Cheat Sheet pdf.
📖 Recipe
Double Chocolate Fudge Coca Cola Cake
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup Coca Cola , don't use diet
- ½ cup vegtable oil
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup cocoa powder, I used Hershey's Extra Dark
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Glaze
- ½ cup butter
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup Coca Cola
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spray a 9x13 dish with nonstick spray or grease with butter.
- Blend the flour and sugar together in a large bowl of an electric mixer. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat whisk together Coca Cola, butter, oil, and cocoa powder until smooth.
- Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
- Pour over the flour mixture and beat on low for about 1 minute, or until well blended.
- Add the egg and yolks, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla.
- Beat on low for about 1 minute or until blended.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (This will be about 200° with an instant read thermometer).
- Remove from oven and spoon the glaze over the cake while it is still warm.
- Let cool completely before cutting.
Glaze
- About 10 minutes before the cake is ready to come out of the oven melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the Coca Cola, cocoa powder, and vanilla.
- Whisk smooth.
- Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar.
- Whisk until smooth.
Notes
- Don't over mix your cake batter. Mix until it is just combined.
- Spread the spread chocolate coca-cola icing over the warm cake - don't let it cool too much.
- When melting the butter, be sure to whisk often so that the mixture doesn't clump or scorch.
- Do not use Diet Coke to make this recipe, it will not turn out as well.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
🔪How to make Double Fudge Coca-Cola Cake
This cake doesn't ask much from you - mix, bake, pour on that warm fudge frosting, and bask in the glory. Simple steps, big payoff.
- Start with the basics. Dump your flour and sugar in a big bowl and stir 'em together. Nothing fancy, just cake groundwork.
- Make it chocolatey. In a saucepan, toss in the Coke, butter, oil, and cocoa. Whisk until smooth and fudgy, then pour that molten goodness over the dry stuff.
- Bring it all together. Crack in the eggs, toss in the buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir until the batter looks so good you're tempted to eat it with a spoon. (Don't. Salmonella is not a flavor profile.)
- Bake and drown in frosting. Spread the batter into a greased 13x9, bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes, then pour the warm glaze right over the hot cake. Let it soak in like sweet tea on a summer day.
👩🍳 Everything you didn't know you needed to ask about Coca-Cola cake
Because someone's always gonna wonder if Diet Coke works (it doesn't) or if you really need buttermilk (you do). Here's the no-nonsense, chocolate-covered truth. Find more FAqs on the free pdf above.
Nope. Sugar-free sodas don't bake the same and you'll end up with a sad, flat cake. If you're baking cake, commit to the sugar.
Yes! Divide the batter into two 8-inch round pans and bake a little less time. Frost with the fudge frosting from the Hershey's Chocolate Cake and stack like you're auditioning for Great British Bake Off.
📚 Craving more Southern sweets?
If a fudgy Coca-Cola cake can win your heart, wait until you try these other Southern desserts.
- Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake is an old-fashioned cake recipe that your entire family will love.
- Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes are the perfect blend of spice and chocolate and makes for a crave-able dessert.
- Holy Cow Cake recipe is filled with sweet candy flavor, and rich chocolate poke cake recipe.
- Texas Sheet Cake is a moist and dense with a fudgy topping.
- This Chocolate Spice Cake is sometimes called devil's food spice cake. It's like a combination of a chocolaty layer cake and your favorite spice cake!
This isn't just dessert, it's the Southern church potluck power move. Show up with Double Fudge Coca-Cola Cake and suddenly you're the most popular person since Miss Edna brought her seven-layer salad in 1974.
Debbi says
I made this cake 3 days ago & was not disappointed, it was great! My friends/family loved it & by request, making another one today!
Thanks
Sherri Jo says
coke and peanuts!!! I love this idea Marye... shared! I might just have to make this one. And then give it away because I would eat the whole thing!
Renée J. (RJ Flamingo) says
Oh. My. Word. You just took me back to the 70's. You know, except for the car part. I am loving this cake. I may have to have a baking week, next week. Psssst! I've got a small bottle of "Mexican" Coca Cola in the fridge that I've been saving. I think I have to go drink it now. 😉