Dr Pepper Pound Cake
Drizzled with caramel and vanilla, this Dr Pepper Pound Cake is the perfect dessert for your next outdoor party, summer picnic or backyard bash!
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Raise your hand if you remember when soda came in little glass bottles. I grew up in the 80’s, but I totally still remember glass soda bottles! Cans were certainly more common, but every once in a while, you’d still come across an old vending machine stocked with glass soda bottles.
I actually remember my first barber having one of these glass soda bottle machines. As a kid, I was terrified of any sort of doctor’s appointment, and for some reason I equated getting my hair cut with a visit to the doctor. So to keep me calm and in a somewhat good mood, my Mom would always get me a Dr Pepper from the glass bottle vending machine that sat in the corner of the barber shop. Isn’t it funny the random things that we remember from childhood? I don’t remember taking my first step or losing my first tooth, but boy do I remember that barber shop and those glass bottles of Dr Pepper!
You can imagine my sheer joy when I came across some glass bottles of Dr Pepper at Walmart last week. Talk about a trip down memory lane! I’d actually picked up a pack of cans when I turned a corner and saw the glass bottles. I couldn’t throw…err, carefully place…those bottles in my cart fast enough! When I got home, I promptly put two bottles in the fridge to chill. Then I decided that one of the other bottles should be used to create a delicious pound cake. (BTW, pound cake is one of my favorite cakes of all time…just sayin’.)
What? You didn’t realize that you could use soda to create an awesome pound cake? Well now you know! (They say we learn something new every day…so you can go ahead and check that box off of your “to-do” list for the day.) I decided to spice this pound cake up with a drizzle of either caramel or vanilla. Ah, but which one? Both flavors would work so well on the pound cake. After a bit of internal debate, I just said forget it and went with both! I mean, how can you go wrong with a delicious pound cake drizzled with caramel and vanilla?
Let me tell ya…this Dr Pepper Pound Cake is one delicious cake! We served it at a backyard picnic with friends, and it was a huge hit. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we did!
If you’re looking for more tasty pound cake recipes, check out this 7UP Pound Cake!
Dr Pepper Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Pound Cake
- 1¼ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2½ cups sugar
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup Dr Pepper
For the Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
For the Vanilla Sauce
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
For the Pound Cake
- Using a countertop mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy in color (~5 minutes on medium speed).
- Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low after each addition until fully incorporated.
- Add salt and flour 1 cup at a time, mixing on low after each addition until fully incorporated.
- Add Dr Pepper and mix on low speed until a smooth batter forms (~1-2 minutes).
- Pour batter into a greased tube or bundt pan. Bake at 325°F for 90-100 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
For the Caramel Sauce
- Place the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the sugar constantly as it begins to melt. (Tip: Use a larger saucepan than you might think because the mixture will bubble up when the other ingredients are added!)
- Once the sugar has fully melted and turns light caramel in color, remove pan from heat and add the butter. Stir until butter has fully melted. (Note: The mixture will bubble up rapidly once the butter is added, so use caution.)
- Slowly whisk in the heavy cream. (Tip: If the caramel seizes up when you add the liquid, you can place it back over low temperature and whisk constantly until it turns into a thick sauce.)
- Let cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.
For the Vanilla Sauce
- Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl until well combined.
To Garnish Cake
- Place cake on a large serving platter.
- Transfer the Vanilla Sauce into a piping bag or a sandwich bag with one corner snipped off. Drizzle the top of the cake generously.
- Repeat with the Caramel Sauce.
I haven’t had a Dr. Pepper in ages, I don’t even remember how it tastes like. Question: the one in the pictures is a Dr. Pepper vintage glass bottle, right? Because I don’t remember ever seeing it.
Hey Mike! Actually the bottle in the pictures is a “new” vintage bottle. They’ve brought them back as a “throw-back” to the good ole times…and they’re awesome!! I had a legit vintage bottle somewhere around the house, but I couldn’t put my hands on where it was hiding. Maybe if I hadn’t watched so much soccer…but the real question is now what I am going to do with all of this extra time on my hands?? I think it’s time to catch back up with the Tour de France!
This cake looks flippin’ fantastic, Dave! I used to love Dr. Pepper, and probably still would if my blood sugar could handle it 😉 I switched over to Diet DP for a while, but it just wasn’t the same. Bet this cake was delicious, though!
Oh, this cake was totally delicious, Becca! It didn’t last long around our house…too bad because I could totally go for a slice right now. That’s unfortunate about the blood sugar, but I bet you would have enjoyed watching me eat this cake! Haha! 🙂
It is indeed “funny the random things that we remember from childhood” – (in my case) most of my childhood memories revolve around food…or drink! My daughter thinks glass bottles areDabomb – so much so that she managed to get her hands on one a couple years ago and she funnels tea and lemonade into it all the time saying it just tastes better that way!
Love the texture of your pound cake, David – I remember adding cola to a cake mix once as some sort of experiment – the cake turned out pretty good – but didn’t look as gorgeous as yours looks and sounds!
Hahaha! I love that your daughter re-uses the glass bottles. It’s the same exact lemonade and tea…but I totally agree with her that it just tastes better from a glass bottle! Thanks, Shashi!! 🙂
Did you just create a cake from Dr. Pepper?! Dude…. #wolfpackeats represent!
Hah…thanks, Chris! This cake was delicious. Just sayin’! #WolfpackEats
Soda just tastes colder in glass bottles the glass holds the cold better than plastic or metal
I couldn’t agree with you more, Ann! I love whenever I can find soda in the old glass bottles. I’ve even been tempted to refill the glass bottles from a 2-liter…haha!
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing your wonderful creation. #client
Thank you, Kristin!! This cake was delicious…and I just wish there was more of it left in my kitchen. It’s Friday…maybe this calls for another Dr Pepper Pound Cake! 🙂
I made this cake Sunday to take to work on Monday. It’s was pretty much gone by lunch.
I have a convection oven and always set my timer for half of the recommended time so I remember to check the progress half way through. The recipe called for 90 to 100 minutes cooking time I set my timer for 65 minutes when I checked the cake was done.
Awesome! I’m so glad this cake was such a hit, Stacey! Now you’re making me want to go make another one…especially with the holidays coming up. 🙂 Oh, and thanks for the update on the convection times. Have a great evening!
Can you substitute salted butter unsalted butter dr peper cake
Hey there! You absolutely can use salted butter here. However, I always recommend unsalted butter when baking. Different brands of salted butter include different amounts of salt, so I like to use unsalted butter and then add a bit of salt to the recipe myself. If you use salted butter, I would omit the extra salt in the recipe. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we do! 🙂