Orange Crush Cakes

So, baking a cake generally requires a few common ingredients, right? For example, a simple boxed cake mix usually requires water, eggs, and either oil or butter. Guess what? For this recipe, throw out those notions. All you need to bake cake is a cake mix and a can of soda.

Say what?

That's what intrigued me in this 2-ingredient recipe for Soda Can Cupcakes. How can you bake a cake without eggs and oil? What is this madness? The fun part is that you can choose any flavor soda and cake that you want. I know from experience that Coca-Cola® is great in chocolate cake, so I wanted to do something a little different. (Plus, my boyfriend doesn't like chocolate, so I wanted to make something he would eat. =P) That's when I decided I wanted to use my favorite cake mix, Funfetti®, and mix it with orange soda. Plus, Duncan Hines® has a neat new product called Frosting Creations™, and what do you know? They have an orange crème flavor. =)

So here's what you need for what I call Orange Crush Cakes. Also, don't forget to preheat the oven to 350ᵒF.

1 (18.25 oz.) box of your favorite white or vanilla cake mix
1 (12 oz.) can* of your favorite orange soda
1 (16 oz.) can of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Frosting Starter
1 packet of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Orange Crème Flavor Mix



*I realize that the picture above shows a bottle of soda, but I did not use the whole thing. I simply couldn't find a single can, so I bought a 20 oz. bottle and measured out the 12 oz., which works out to be 1 1/2 cups.



Simply combine the cake mix and soda in your mixing bowl. It will foam up, which is kind of neat.



Mix it up on the lowest setting until it's combined; scrape the sides of the bowl as needed, then turn up the speed a bit until it's a nice batter. It will appear a little thicker than a regular cake mix batter, since we're using less liquid.



Spoon the batter carefully into your cupcake pan; I like to use paper cupcake liners for less mess. I filled each about 3/4 or a little more full. I ended up getting a total of 17 cupcakes.



Then bake them up at 350ᵒF for 18-20 minutes. They're done when a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. You can also lightly press the top of a cupcake with a finger, and if it springs back up, it's done!



Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for a bit before removing them, then let them cool completely on a wire rack. Once the cupcakes are cool, they're ready to be frosted! Simply follow the directions on the Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ packages: make a deep hole in the icing, add the flavor mix, and mix it well.

I'd like to say thank you to my boyfriend, Paul, who came over to help me decorate the cupcakes. Thank you, sweetie! =)



Frost those cupcakes!



You could stop there, of course, but I wanted to make these cupcakes a little special. After all, I ended up making them for Sara's birthday, a friend I've known since middle school. =) She loves orange cake, so the timing couldn't have been better! We added some rainbow sprinkles...



Then I thought, "You know, since these cupcakes are inspired by orange soda, little straws would be a cute touch! Wait a second... I happen to have some straws!" We cut a few straws into four pieces each and carefully inserted one mini-straw into each cupcake.



Ta-dah! We have a batch of cute Orange Crush Cakes.





I'm very pleased with the way these cupcakes turned out. They have a light, refreshing orange flavor, and the frosting has a very sweet orange crème flavor. The texture of the cake is a little different since there's no egg or oil, but it isn't too noticeable and isn't a bad thing. By the time I left my friends' house (called "Sketchy House") last night, at least 10 of the 17 cupcakes were gone. I'm pretty sure they were a success!

If anyone else tries their own version of Soda Can Cupcakes, let me know how they turn out! I'd like to try a chocolate cake with Dr. Pepper® sometime. ;)

Your Cupcake,

~Jesia <3