7-Up Cake

7-Up Cake - made September 17, 2013 from From the Kitchen of: Mrs. Bettie Rocker

I've had this lone can of Sprite in my pantry for awhile.  I can't even remember how it got there but assume someone must've brought it for a past social gathering since I don't drink Sprite so I wouldn't have bought it for myself.  I finally got tired of looking at it and I didn't want to waste it by simply throwing it away so I searched for a recipe on pinterest that would use it and sure enough, found a 7-Up cake (close enough).

I've made soda cakes before and I don't know how the chemistry works but find that generally the cakes that use soda have a tender crumb.  Must be something in the carbonated water.  This was no exception.  There was too much batter for my Bundt pan so I baked the overflow in a ramekin and a mini loaf cake.  The ramekin was my usual taste test piece and the cake had great texture, very soft, almost velvety.  But I think I underbaked the Bundt cake a little and it could've used more baking time in the oven.  You can tell by how dense the crumb was and the bottom in the first picture above is a dead giveaway.  The Bundt cake formed an almost meringue-like crust on top and past experience has taught me that those are almost always very hard to get out of the pan intact because it clings stubbornly to the pan and only gets more intractable as it cools.  So as soon as I took it out of the oven, I quickly ran a small spatula along the top and sides, keeping the cake from clinging to the pan like a jealous lover and turned it out onto a plate.  Normally I let it cool for a few minutes in the pan at least since if you turn out a Bundt cake while it's still too hot, it can fall apart more easily.  But thankfully, this time it worked and it came out intact.  I think if I had waited longer, the meringue-like crust would've turned into tentacles adhering to the Bundt pan and at least the top would've crumbled a lot more before releasing itself from the pan.

The texture is best when this is baked properly as when it's underbaked, it's a little dense and not as fluffy although it's still got a soft crumb.  But you get more of the velvety mouthfeel if it's baked the right amount of time.  Taste-wise, this was just a bit too sweet for me...and you know it takes a lot for my iron sweet tooth to flinch.  I think it was the Sprite itself - one reason I don't drink it is because it's too sweet.  Combine sweet Sprite with the amount of sugar the cake calls for plus the glaze and even my sweet tooth blinks.

1 cup butter
1⁄2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
1-1⁄2 teaspoons lemon extract
1-1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
7 fluid ounces 7-Up (or Sprite)

Glaze
1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 tsp lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, place butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until it is fluffy and well mixed. Add in lemon extract and vanilla flavoring. 
2. Add in all of the eggs and beat again until blended in. Add in all of your flour and then seven up. Mix until smooth and creamy. Pour into greased and floured tube pan
3. Bake at 300 for one hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a spatula along top and sides and turn out onto a plate while cake is still warm.