This Hard Orange Soda Bundt Cake gets its sass from vanilla infused citrus and its springy fluffiness from a boozy carbonated hard orange soda. Glazed with more vanilla infused citrus, this bundt cake is perfect for popping up at a friend’s house for a cool afternoon of girly chatter!
Can I be real with you guys for a second? I still feel like a baking newbie sometimes. Have you ever felt this way? Despite the 10 years of solid baking under my belt I still feel, you know… New.
I know how to make puff pastry, the quick way and the classic way – Pounding butter and wrapping a delicious square of butter in flour, then rolling and folding ’till you get a million sheets of buttered dough. Bruh, I have been there.
I have a fool proof pie dough recipe. Scratch that – I have two – One for mini pies and one for the real deal holy-pie deal with the lattice crust and errthang.
I am not afraid of yeast. I gets down with a baguette.
I like to think I am well versed in the art of baking. Gluten in all forms is my spirit animal.
Then I am taught something new and realize – I have barely scratched the surface.
Take this Hard Orange Soda Cake, for instance.
I’ve been boozing a bit this summer. No more or less than usual. Regular summer boozing in the name of recipe testing. Yeah, let’s stick with that.
I’ve been sipping on hard soda lately. Again, for recipe testing. I’ve been meaning to make a hard soda version and a ‘sista needs basis for comparison. I picked up a couple of 6-packs of Mike’s Hard Orange Soda at my local supermarket. And I admit, this hard soda is pretty good.
I figured I’d imbibe (read: chug, chug, chug) a few and use a few in recipes.
But what?
There was an overabundance of hard soda creamsicle floats on the Pinterest. It was done. Overdone. I wasn’t digging it. I quickly typed Hard Soda Cake on the Pinterest search bar and found a plethora of flavored soda cake recipes.
And you see, that was new to me.
Soda? In cake?
Like, how does that work?
Why is the soda folded in at end and not alternated with the flour?
Well, peeps – When soda is folded into cake batter, the carbonation makes for a fluffy as hell cake.
Who knew? I certainly did not and now I can say I am pleasantly schooled.
Now flow with me, let’s talk about this cake.
This cake! I decided wanted a deeply flavored orange cake with flecks of vanilla bean. I zested an orange and squeezed about half an orange’s worth of juice into the batter. I added well over a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste, as I find vanilla pairs wonderfully with orange.
The hard orange soda is the Voila! Moment. It’s folded into the prepared batter, lightly streaking it with orange and lending its carbonation to aid in the rise.
The cake is baked and cooled. Then it’s glazed. The glaze hardens beautifully and is a pleasure to bite into.
This cake has a tender, pillowy moist crumb and a slightly chewy texture, slightly similar to Sara Lee. Three days at room temperature does not change this one bit. Now, you’re asking – Can you taste the booze? No you cannot. I would suggest a couple teaspoons of booze if you’re looking for a boozy flavored cake. What you can taste is the soda which melds perfectly with the orange and vanilla bean.
Admittedly this cake is a tad on the sweet side. I don’t care, though. I love me a sweet cake. And my crew loved it just as hard. They had their doubts, certainly. And though I don’t feel like a baking master just yet, I learned a new technique and for that I am immensely grateful.
Next stop, conquering churros. Those mofos are my nemesis.
Disclaimer: I was not provided with a sample of Henry’s Hard Soda for this post. I took a stroll out to my local supermarket, saw it, placed it in my cart, paid for it, and baked a cake. With my own dollas. I liked what I did with hard soda and thought it would feel nice to share it with the world. It did.
[purerecipe]
Hard Orange Soda Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 cups All-purpose flour spooned then leveled
- 2 teaspoons Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ cups 3 sticks Butter
- 3 cups Granulated sugar
- 5 large Eggs
- Zest of 1 large orange
- Juice of ½ an orange
- 1 ½ tablespoons Vanilla bean paste
- ¾ cup Orange flavored carbonated soda I used Henry’s Hard Soda in orange flavor
For the glaze
- 2 – 2 ¼ cups Confectioners’ sugar
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1-2 tablespoons Orange flavored carbonated soda I used Henry’s Hard Soda in orange flavor
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
Bake the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Butter and flour a bundt pan and set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk with a fork to distribute ingredients and set aside.
- In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium/high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop and scrape the mixer.
- Turn the speed back to low and add the orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla bean paste. Mix until combined. Stop and scrape the mixer once more.
- Add the flour and mix until just incorporated, about 5-10 seconds or so.
- Remove bowl from mixer. Add the carbonated soda and gently fold until carbonated soda is completely combined with the batter and no streaks of soda remain. Pour mixture into prepared bundt pan. Place pan in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer or cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Remove cake from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before inverting onto a cake plate. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing. As the cake bakes, prepare the glaze.
For the glaze:
- Add confectioners’ sugar, juice and orange zest, hard soda, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl. Whisk with a fork until combined, adding more confectioners’ sugar or hard soda until you’ve reached desired consistency. Set aside until ready to use.
Glaze the cake:
- Pour or spoon the cake with the prepared glaze.
- Serves 10
