Fizzy fantastic

It was a success.

I'm not one to dabble with science experiments in the kitchen. Until I have children whose teachers are sending them home with assignments to produce green gak and erupting volcanoes, the most experimenting my kitchen will see is applesauce replacing butter in a muffin. However, I was feeling adventurous last week. The wind had taken over our original plans to play tennis, so baking was the obvious substitution. Down the street from where we were going to buy rackets is a market. We were craving lemon cake, I was craving something new. I remembered multiple blogs writing about this soda in cake substitution, so I thought, "why not? If this doesn't work out, it's a sign from the health gods that I wasn't meant to compensate exercise with baked goods."

I slowly combined a 10 oz. sprite with boxed cake mix. All of the other ingredients listed on the box are omitted but the recommended cooking temperature and time remains the same. Because this wasn't a normal cake, I took the chance to not use normal frosting. I don't know if I was expecting the final product to be some type of carbonated, floating dessert, but the thought of it being so made me want a really light topping. I mixed a tub of fat-free cool whip with a packet of cheesecake instant pudding.

It was a success.
When the timer went off and I saw my cake, I was surprised. The real test was in the taste, though. As the blogs promised, you could not tell a real difference using this substitution. Because we didn't use sugar-free soda (we probably will if we make it again), I'm thinking that the added sugars contributed to a little bit of a stickier cake than usual. The stickiness wasn't significant; it was just on the top, anyway. We put a dollop of the whipped cream mixture on each slice and had at it.
*For white cakes, use clear colored drinks. For chocolate, darker drinks will work great. A chocolate cake with a cherry Pepsi drink might add a subtle cherry flavor. Try it!