root beer float cake

Today is my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Chris! We celebrated her birthday yesterday and I offered to bring the cake. There are many cake recipes that are on my list to try and I just don't have enough opportunities (or time) to make them all. One of those recipes on the list is a Root Beer Float Cake. I grew up drinking many ice cream floats. They were usually made with pepsi and were a treat on Saturday night. I remembered the picture above, Chris sharing her float with me, and I knew this recipe was the perfect cake for her.

The kids were very excited to help me make this on Saturday evening. They called it a donut cake/beer cake and were very excited to try it. So was I. It turned out to be a very moist chocolate cake with just a hint of something undetectable. The root beer flavour is barely noticeable and needs to be pointed out. But it was delicious, especially with ice cream.

Root Beer Float Cake - from Joy the Baker

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

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. (I would sift this mixture next time)

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

1/4 teaspoon salt

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.