7-UP BEAT THE HEAT CHOCOLATE CAKE

It's pretty warm today, so why not make Beat the Heat 7 Up Chocolate Cake? This Beat the Heat! "fresh up" with Seven-Up Ad came out on July 5, 1948! The ad is all about family days at the Beach! Mom packs the picnic basket; Dad drives; and the kids fill the cooler with 7-Up. Seems like a lot of 7-Up from the photo. But they all look like they're having fun at the Beach -- with 7-Up.

Another way of enjoying 7-Up, a very Retro carbonated beverage, is to use it as a leavening agent in a chocolate bundt cake. Enjoy! Try to beat the heat this weekend! This cake travels well!

7-Up Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup DARK cocoa
1 cup 7-Up
1 cup dark chocolate chips  (or a cup of dark chocolate broken into chunks)
 
Directions
Cream butter.
Add sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, beating well after each one.
Stir in salt, flour and cocoa. Blend thoroughly.
Add 7-UP.
Fold in chocolate chips or chunks.
Bake in greased and floured Bundt pan for 60 minutes (or until tester comes clean).
Cool on wire rack. 

Optional: Glaze when cooled with dark chocolate Dobash Frosting. 

Dobash Frosting
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Ghirardelli cocoa
pinch of salt

Combine all in saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add 1/2 cup water to make a paste. Stir into cocoa mixture with whisk over heat until it thickens. Pour while hot over cake and spread.

BEAT THE HEAT 7-UP CHOCOLATE CAKE: Retro Ad & Recipe

Here's a great recipe for Beat the Heat 7 Up Chocolate Cake for the Holiday Weekend! This Beat the Heat! "fresh up" with Seven-Up! ad on July 5, 1948! family days at the Beach is perfect! Mom packs the picnic basket; Dad drives; and the kids fill the cooler with 7-Up. Seems like a lot of 7-Up from the photo. But they all look like they're having fun at the Beach--with 7-Up.

Another way of enjoying 7-Up, a very Retro carbonated beverage, is to use it as a leavening agent in a chocolate bundt cake. Enjoy! Try to beat the heat this holiday weekend! This cake travels well!

7-Up Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup DARK cocoa
1 cup 7-Up
1 cup dark chocolate chips  (or a cup of dark chocolate broken into chunks)
 
Directions
Cream butter.
Add sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, beating well after each one.
Stir in salt, flour and cocoa. Blend thoroughly.
Add 7-UP.
Fold in chocolate chips or chunks.
Bake in greased and floured Bundt pan for 60 minutes (or until tester comes clean).
Cool on wire rack. 

Optional: Glaze when cooled with dark chocolate Dobash Frosting. 

Dobash Frosting
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup Ghirardelli cocoa
pinch of salt

Combine all in saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add 1/2 cup water to make a paste. Stir into cocoa mixture with whisk over heat until it thickens. Pour while hot over cake and spread.

Retro Dr Pepper Chocolate Cake & Hot Dr. Pepper

I came across this retro Ad when I was looking for winter advertisements. It's so perfect for this cold day, but I've never had Hot Dr Pepper. The actual idea of it doesn't appeal. But I have had Dr Pepper Chocolate Cake. Using soda (cola) in cakes is very Retro, and this Dr. Pepper Chocolate Cake is as retro as this 60s Ad.

Want to know more about Dr Pepper? Here's a link to a post I did in 2010.

Want to make a Chocolate Dr. Pepper Cake from Scratch? Here's a good recipe from the Baylor University Alumni Association cookbook: "Homecoming: Special Foods, Special Memories." The original recipe called for margarine, but that's not an ingredient I would ever use! Not a Dr Pepper fan? You can substitute your favorite cola.

CHOCOLATE DR. PEPPER CAKE

Cake
1 cup butter
1 cup Dr. Pepper
4 Tbsp DARK cocoa
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional...I don't use it)
3 cups flour,  sifted
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs -- well beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda

Dr. Pepper Frosting
1/2 cup Dr. Pepper
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbsp DARK cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar -- sifted
1/2 cup pecans -- chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Cake:
Heat Dr. Pepper with butter, but do not boil. Set aside. Sift together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cocoa. Beat together eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and baking soda. Add hot Dr. Pepper mixture to dry ingredients. Stir in egg mixture, and blend well. Pour into greased and floured 15x10-inch sheet cake pan. Bake at 350 deg. for 25 minutes.

Frosting:
About 5 minutes before cake is done, heat Dr. Pepper, margarine, and cocoa.
Stir in powdered sugar, pecans, and vanilla. Spread frosting on while cake is still hot.