Jul 13, 2007
3
reviews
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Root Beer Cake

It is amazing what you can do with the sweet, rich taste of root beer.
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Root beer cake Enlarge Image Credit: Ganda Suthivarakom

2 cups butter, plus 1 tsp. to grease pan
2 1⁄2 cups cake flour, plus 1 tbsp. for dusting cake pan
2 1⁄2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup root beer
5 tsp. root beer extract (preferably Zatarain's)
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
4 room-temperature eggs
4 1⁄2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. cream

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" × 13" pan with 1 tsp. of the butter; dust with 1 tbsp. of the cake flour; tap bottom of pan to remove excess flour.

2. Sift remaining cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

3. Whisk together root beer and 2 tsp. of the root beer extract in a bowl; set aside.

4. Beat sugar and 1 cup of the butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating briefly after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and root beer mixture, waiting for each to be incorporated before adding the next. Mix briefly, then transfer batter to pan; smooth out top.

5. Bake, rotating once, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool.

6. Put confectioners' sugar and remaining butter into a bowl; beat with an electric mixer to combine. Add cream and remaining root beer extract; beat to make a fluffy frosting. Spread frosting on cake, making swirls and whorls. Decorate with root beer candies.

SERVES 6 – 8

Root beer cake

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #104

Ratings & Reviews (3)

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a really unique cake that will be a hit among root beer lovers. my friends are constantly requesting that i make this! 
noAvatar
I've been wanting to use this recipe for a long time, but have been unable to find root beer extract - so I replaced it with lemon extract, and the root beer with Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade. Cake was fantastic! Reading over my shoulder, my girlfriend reminds me to tell about the sour patch kids candy I arranged on top, instead of the root beer candies. In her opinion, it "makes the cake."
noAvatar
I followed this reciped to the letter. The cake looked awful. I thought, "it still might taste ok." Ever the optimist, I hoped the "fluffy" icing would help. It wasn't fluffy, it was butter cream. It didn't make it prettier nor did it help the taste of the cake. The first loser I've had from this site. The previous reviewer's lemon adaptation sounds great though.
Root Beer Cake 4 5 1 3

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