I know, I know – who thinks of these things? I would have never thought of adding cola to a cake, but that’s exactly what happens here. It doesn’t flavour the cake, but instead creates a sweet, moist, chocolate cake. However, the frosting on top does have that sickly-sweet cola flavour. I tend to use buttermilk substitutions instead of buying buttermilk – add 1 ¹/₂tsp of lemon juice or vinegar to 125mL (¹/₂ cup) of milk, and leave for 10 minutes before using. Go on, give it a try – you won’t be disappointed!

Makes a 20cm (8 inch) square cake or 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cake

200g (1 2/3 cups) plain (AP) flour 250g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 large egg

125mL (1/2 cup) buttermilk 1tsp vanilla extract 125g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter 2tbsp cocoa powder 175ml (3/4 cups) coca-cola

For the icing

225g (1 1/2 cups) icing sugar 30g (2tbsp) butter 45mL (3tbsp) coca-cola

1tbsp cocoa powder 1/2tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°c (350°f). Grease and line a 20cm (8 inch) square tin.
2. Add the butter, cola and cocoa to a saucepan and heat until melted.
3. Place the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl, and add the egg, buttermilk, vanilla and cola into a jug.
4. Add the cola-butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
5. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for around 40 minutes, or until a few moist crumbs cling to a toothpick.
6. Leave in the tin to cool for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
7. For the icing, melt the butter and cola together as before. Remove from the heat and add vanilla. Mix in enough sifted sugar to make a smooth, runny icing.
8. Cover the warm cake with icing and leave to cool before serving.

This recipe was originally from Nigella Lawson’s ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess‘.