Grandma Spears’ Dr Pepper Chocolate Cake
This is Grandma Spears’ Dr Pepper chocolate cake, from a newspaper clipping of an adaptation of her recipe. Bake it in a 9-by-13-inch pan or in three 8-inch layers, and frost it with the clipping’s butter, cocoa, Dr Pepper and powdered-sugar topping.
The clipping
This is Cowboy Chef Grady Spears’ grandmother’s recipe, from a newspaper clipping. The clipping credits an adaptation from The Texas Cowboy Kitchen: Recipes from the Chisholm Club.
This is a Dr Pepper cake. Nobody has requested a sparkling-water version, and I’d like to keep our relationship civil.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup Dr Pepper
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
Frosting
- 1 cup butter
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- 6 tablespoons Dr Pepper
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch pan or three 8-inch cake pans.
- In a saucepan, heat the butter, Dr Pepper and cocoa until boiling. Remove from the heat and allow to cool so the mixture will not cook the eggs when combined.
- In a bowl, combine the buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla.
- In another mixing bowl, combine the eggs, flour and sugar.
- Blend the cooled chocolate mixture, buttermilk mixture and flour mixture together until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan or pans.
- Bake about one hour, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and pierce the cake with a fork to make numerous holes. Let cool before frosting.
Frosting
- Combine the butter, cocoa and Dr Pepper in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Whisk in the powdered sugar and remove from the heat.
- Let cool before spreading over the cooled cake.
Pro Tips from Chad
Cool the chocolate mixture first
Let the butter, Dr Pepper and cocoa mixture cool so it will not cook the eggs when combined.
Pierce the cake before frosting
When it comes out of the oven, pierce the cake with a fork to make numerous holes, then let it cool before frosting.
Troubleshooting
- Checking doneness: Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Eggs scrambling in the batter: The chocolate mixture was still too hot. Let it cool first.
Storage
Let the cake cool before frosting, then serve it as the finish to a fish fry. See more Texas fish fry recipes for the rest of the table.
Printable recipe
Printable recipe
Grandma Spears’ Dr Pepper Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- Cake: 1 cup butter
- Cake: 1 cup Dr Pepper
- Cake: 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- Cake: 1/2 cup buttermilk
- Cake: 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Cake: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cake: 2 eggs
- Cake: 2 cups flour
- Cake: 2 cups sugar
- Frosting: 1 cup butter
- Frosting: 3 tablespoons cocoa
- Frosting: 6 tablespoons Dr Pepper
- Frosting: 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch pan or three 8-inch cake pans.
- In a saucepan, heat the butter, Dr Pepper and cocoa until boiling. Remove from the heat and allow to cool so the mixture will not cook the eggs when combined.
- In a bowl, combine the buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla.
- In another mixing bowl, combine the eggs, flour and sugar.
- Blend the cooled chocolate mixture, buttermilk mixture and flour mixture together until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan or pans.
- Bake about one hour, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and pierce the cake with a fork to make numerous holes. Let cool before frosting.
- For the frosting: Combine the butter, cocoa and Dr Pepper in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
- Whisk in the powdered sugar and remove from the heat.
- Let cool before spreading over the cooled cake.
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Guided catfish trips on Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth, right here in Fort Worth. Boat, bait, rods, reels and tackle provided. I clean and bag your fish when we're done.
