This Root Beer Float Cake is my second Random Recipe, yep, I picked two cakes in a row! At first I was not really excited about this recipe, sure I love a good root beer float, and even in cake form it sounds delicious, but this recipe was a "cake mix" recipe and I don't like to use cake mixes, also the topping on this recipe used a packet of "whipped topping mix," what to do, what to do. I decided to use this recipe as a base but make some "cake mix from scratch" -- pretty much just using the dry ingredients from a cake recipe, and then using the remaining wet ingredients as listed in the recipe. I also made the whipped cream topping from scratch and it was absolutely delicious, so Betty Crocker's Root Beer Float Cake was a stepping stone from this version that I made...
Here is the start of the original recipe, a "fast and fun family treat" -- you can find it here and here online -- I guess the cake mix version is pretty popular! It is originally from this book from 1992, Baking Made Easy -- a Betty Crocker recipe book that you usually find in the checkout lane at the supermarket. I did not buy this one, I'm sure it was passed down to me at some point from someone and I just put it on the shelf never to look at it again. Well, lucky little book was blindly picked from the shelf and got to be the second Random Recipe book. After I decided that I was going to make this cake from scratch I got a little more excited about it :)
I have a ton of the checkout cookbooks on a smaller book shelf so I decided that for my little Random Recipe series I would swap between my "real book bookshelf" and my "tiny book bookshelf" every week. Stay tuned next week for another "real book" book ;) Some people are not fans of these little cookbooks, but I find them fun. They always bring back memories of being a child and grocery shopping with my mom, waiting in the checkout lane while flipping through one of these, if something sounded good, my mom usually tossed the book right on in with the groceries. Kind of nostalgic, these things are.
Root Beer Float Cake
2 and 1/3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 and 1/4 cups root beer -- I used A&W
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon root beer extract
2 eggs
Root Beer Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons root beer extract
4 heaping tablespoons powdered sugar
Optional toppings:
crushed root beer hard candies (I bought these for this recipe but skipped using them since I liked the texture of just the root beer whipped cream on the cake)
maraschino cherry, just for fun
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Add in eggs, oil, root beer, vanilla, and root beer extract and beat with an electric mixer for about two minutes, until well blended.
Pour into 9 by 13 baking pan, sprayed with non-stick baking spray.
Bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and cakes tests dry with a toothpick or cake tester. Do not over bake.
Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack to cool completely. Move to serving tray or back to cooled baking pan.
Whip cream, root beer extract, and powdered sugar for about 2 minutes, until it is light and fluffy. Dollop onto individual cake slices, as shown, or for serving to a group, spread over the whole cake. I would suggest doing this as individual slices unless you are serving the whole cake at once. The whipped cream keeps well in a bowl covered with saran wrap in the fridge. I kept it for over 24 hours and it did not separate.
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The cake keeps well wrapped in saran wrap and left at room temperature. It stays moist and the flavor seems to deepen if left overnight.
My kids think everything is better with a maraschino cherry on top!
My kids think everything is better with a cherry on top
I was so surprised by this cake! The dry ingredients from this cake mix from scratch recipe (from allrecipes) worked perfectly with the wet ingredients from the original Betty Crocker Root Beer Float Cake cake-mix recipe! Now I have a recipe I can use when ever I find a fun cake-mix recipe to try but want to make it from scratch. The root beer whipped cream was amazing! At first I was worried that the cake would be dry and the whipped cream wouldn't come together, but I shouldn't have.
My whole family loved this cake, even picky husband, he is not a big cake fan so it was kind of funny to see him requesting this as an after lunch dessert. My daughter even asked if I could make this as her birthday cake. I would this again for sure, I'd probably attempt a root beer concentrated drizzle / glaze to soak into the cake, and definitely would serve this with some ice cream. It would be great for those backyard summer get togethers when you need something with mass appeal (kids and adults) that can go together quickly or be made the day before. I'd say Random Recipe #2 was a success for sure!
