While it may sound a little strange and foreign, cooking with cola is not all that unusual. (An aside, I forgot until today that I baked THIS recipe a few years ago, using Coke). In fact, the syrupy sweetness and the unique aromatics of the Kola nut, cinnamon, clove, and bergamot create an amazing depth of flavor to multiple types of foods. Think BBQ, Sloppy Joe’s, pulled pork, and even tacos, with that extra fragrant zing inside. It’s pretty incredible.
And, today you can think of that flavor profile combined with chocolate.
Yes. Chocolate.
Double Chocolate Cola Layer Cake
Double Chocolate Cola Layer Cake
Cake:
1 1/2 cups cola (Coke)
3/4 cup light olive oil
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups white sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. sea salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks
Chocolate Frosting:
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs. cola
2 Tbs. buttermilk
1 tsp. sea salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium pot over low high, combine the cola, olive oil, and butter. Bring to a simmer. Stir in the cocoa powder until well mixed. Remove from heat.
Place the sugar, flour, and salt in a large bowl and pour the melted butter cola mixture over the flour, stirring well.
Add the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix again until very well combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Grease two 9″ cake pans with oil and line the bottoms with parchment.
Divide the cake batter evenly between the two pans and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool for at least one hour before inverting the layers and allowing to cool completely (ideally a day ahead) before frosting.
To prepare the frosting, beat together the softened butter, cocoa powder, and sugar until creamy. Drizzle in the cola and buttermilk and then sprinkle in the salt. Beat again until smooth, but still somewhat stiff.
Layer 1/3 of the frosting on top of the first cooled cake layer. Top with the second layer of cake and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, evenly.
