I found this recipe in my old church cookbook while searching for something that could be made, baked, and cleaned up in under an hour. This is no small task for a girl known to drop eggs on the floor, deliver giant poofs of flour into the air, and turn the mixer on just high enough to give the walls that lovely "batter splatter" design. I'm not exactly what you would call a "tidy" baker.
Still, I knew for sure if such a recipe existed, I was bound to find it in the church cookbook. I grew up in a church known for their potlucks. The ladies in the place knew how to cook, and they knew how to do it with simple ingredients and several children clamoring for their attention in the background.
And baking? Forgettaboutit. I'm fairly certain the dessert table at our church potlucks was the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
So when I found a straight forward recipe for Coke Cake that was submitted by one of my best friend's moms, I knew I had a winner on my hands. Unfortunately, I had no Coke.
What I did have was a full 2 liter of root beer that was destined for floats. And what could possibly make root beer floats better? That's right, root beer cake.
Oh. Ma. Goodness. Is this cake ever good. Super light, ridiculously moist and chocolatey, with a hint of earthy molasses flavor from the root beer.
The frosting is a simple chocolate glaze spiked with more root beer then poured over the cake. This cake can easily stand alone as a fun and delectable twist on a classic chocolate cake.
But you should know by now I can't leave well enough alone. I mean why settle for cake when you can have cake floats, right? So of course, I had to take the root beer cake, top it with big scoops of vanilla bean ice cream, then smother it with ice cold bubbly root beer. Oh, and also another drizzle of root beer frosting, just for good measure. Because I've been told drizzles don't have calories. That's accurate right?
This was classic summer delight. Even the Mr., who's become somewhat accustom to the range of sweet desserts coming from the kitchen, had to stop and give this a shocked and awed, "That. is amazing." Victory. Thy name is Root Beer Cake Float.
Chocolate Root Beer Cake Floats
Yield: 1 9 x 13 pan of cake (12-24 servings)
Recipe by Bake. Eat. Repeat.
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup root beer
2 sticks butter
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
For the frosting:
7 Tablespoons root beer
1 stick butter
3 Tablespoons cocoa
2-4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
For the floats:
Cake, sliced into small chunks
Root Beer
Ice Cream
Frosting, either on the cake or drizzled over top
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 in pan.
2. In a large bowl combine sugars, flour, and salt and whisk together.
3. In a medium sized sauce pan combine butter, root beer, and cocoa. Bring to a boil and then pour over sugar and flour, whisking thoroughly until no lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk, baking soda, and beaten eggs and stir gently until smooth. Pour mixture into the greased pan and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. For the frosting, combine root beer, butter, and cocoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then whisk in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until mixture is thickened but still pourable (you want it to be like a glaze). Pour over cake while still warm, saving some for drizzling over floats.
5. To assemble floats, place bite size pieces of cake (frosted or unfrosted) at the bottom of a tall glass. Layer with a scoop of ice cream, then more cake bites, then more ice cream until the glass is full. Pour root beer over all and drizzle with extra frosting.
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