Root Beer Float Cake

Before I made this cake on Sunday afternoon, I sat down with a nice, tall root beer float.  Sure, it was 10:30 in the morning.  I suppose that technically that means I had a root beer float for breakfast.  That’s one of the great thing about being an adult, you can have a float for breakfast with no resistance.

Something about a root beet float puts me on a conveyor belt back to some really random childhood memories.  The taste, the bubbles, the increasingly creamy soda… it take me back to constantly skinned knees, playing in a beat-up old red wagon with my sister, and sitting in front of an old black and white television watching baseball with my grandfather.  Funny what a little ice cream and soda can do in your brain, right?

But cake!?  Root Beet Float Cake?  I have so many questions.  Will it have the same memory inducing effects as the real deal?  Is that asking too much?  Wait, is this cake chocolate or root beer?  Can I eat it for breakfast?  Will it change my life for the better?

Answers and cake, just a click away.

Here’s what you should know about the Root Beer Float Cake.  It’s a wonderfully moist, super chocolate Bundt Cake.  It’s the kind of cake that’s great to take to a outdoor summer party because it has the “hmmm” factor.  People will wonder what’s in it besides the chocolate.

The cake doesn’t have the same memory inducing effects as a real root beer float.  I blame that on all the chocolate.  The root beer flavor does intensify in the cake the next day.  I suggest making the cake a day ahead, wrapping it well, then frosting it and serving the next day.  And yes… cake for breakfast is always encouraged around these parts.  Cake for breakfast usually makes my life better.

Try this cake.  Maybe for Memorial Day.  Maybe put it on your summer baking list.  I’d love to hear what you think!

Root Beer Float Cake

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

Print this recipe!

2 cups root beer (don’t use diet)

1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

Preheat even to 325 degrees F.  Spray the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, or butter generously and dust with flour, knocking out the excess.

In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder and butter over medium heat until butter is melted.  Add sugars and whisk until dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a small bowl whisk the eggs until just beaten.  Then whisk into the cocoa mixture until combined.  Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture.  The batter will be slightly lumpy.  You can give it a quick whisk if you like, but don’t over beat the batter or it could cause the cake to be tough.  Don’t worry, the batter is very loose.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and cook for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking until a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely then loosen edges with a butter knife and turn out onto a cake plate.

Chocolate Root Beer Frosting

2 ounces 60% cocoa, melted

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt (you may want to use less… maybe just 1/2 teaspoon)

1/4 cup root beer

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/2  cups powdered sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using an electric hand mixer, beat softened butter and cocoa powder.  Once combined add the melted chocolate, salt, powdered sugar and root beer.  Beat together until smooth.  Spread on top of cooled cake.  Slice and serve with  vanilla ice cream.