Bake Along 5: Root Beer Float or Cake?

What isn't to love about a cake that combines chocolate and root beer?

No, seriously. What isn't there to love? I mean, it has root beer and chocolate in it. And you get to eat it with ice cream.

Bonus in that it takes roughly 10 minutes to make and doesn't need any special ingredients or tools (assuming you have root beer on hand, which I normally don't.)

Now I could barely taste the root beer in it (I used A&W), and no one else could taste it at all, (we had friends over, so I had extra tasters), but everyone commented that it was a good chocolate cake.

I wonder, if I used a "strong" root beer, would it stand out more?

This cake was the choice of Nic, part of the Bake Along "team" of Nic and Megan, and was a nice choice. I'm not sure if this is a cake I would have made if I'd randomly opened the cookbook and saw the title. Root Beer Bundt Cake doesn't exactly sound appealing. Which would have been my loss, as this cake is a keeper.

Btw, I had planned to making mini's for this cake, but ran late on time as I was out to do something super fun (and educational) within the Ottawa food scene. More about that later! With pictures!

Root Beer Bundt Cake

from Baked

2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1 c. dark unsweetened cocoa powder (dark cocoa? I don't think I have ever seen dark cocoa)
½ c. butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 ¼ c. granulated sugar
½ c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 c. all purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs

Root Beer Fudge Frosting
2 oz. dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
½ c. unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp salt
¼ c. root beer
2/3 c. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ c. powdered sugar
To Serve:
Vanilla Ice Cream

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously spray the inside of a 10” bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

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

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

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs just until beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy - do not overbeat it, as it will cause the cake to be tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time, until a small sharp knife inserted in the cake comes clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

Root Beer Fudge Frosting:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth.

Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving, with the ice cream on the side.