There's nothing quite like the nostalgia of 7UP Cake. It's one of those recipes that is a classic in many families and usually tied to memories of yesteryear.
It does seem like the craziest thing ever to pour soda into your cake batter, but I promise it works like magic! A friend was kind enough to share a taste of her grandmother's 7UP Cake recipe from the Springville, Tennessee Volunteer Fire Department Cookbook.
It is delightful and you're going to love it too!
How To Make Grandma's 7 UP Cake Recipe
Grandma Goldie's recipe for this old fashioned 7 UP cake is pretty straightforward.
Do they still make cookbooks like this nowadays?! It's so sweet to flip through a collection from a community cookbook where friends and neighbors put their recipes in side by side! It's not hard to picture them living life and feasting on these recipes together.
I do make a few small changes to the recipe as written and they are noted below.
Ingredients Needed for 7 Up Cake
For the cake:
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1 small box vanilla or pineapple instant pudding mix
- ¾ cup vegetable oil (I recommend using coconut oil)
- If using vanilla pudding use 7 ounces 7-Up plus 3 ounces of pineapple juice OR
- If using pineapple pudding mix use 10 ounces of 7-Up
- 4 eggs
- Coconut oil to grease the cake pan
For the icing:
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 stick butter (the original recipe calls for margarine, but I'm a butter gal)
- 1 cup crushed pineapple undrained
- 1 bag sweetened coconut flakes
- 2 whole eggs beaten
I am often unable to find the pineapple instant pudding mix in local stores, but Im happy to report that using vanilla pudding with some pineapple juice mix is still lovely.
You could also probably sub a pineapple cake mix for a lemon one if you really want the pineapple flavor to come through!
If you're going the lemon cake and vanilla pudding route like me, change the 10 ounces of 7 UP soda to 7 ounces, and add 3 ounces of pineapple juice.
Need more dessert recipes?
Funfetti Cake Batter Waffles
Cheesecake Brownies
Frozen Mocha Pie
How to Make 7-Up Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with coconut oil.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: cake mix & pudding mix.
3. Add oil, 7 UP (and pineapple juice if using), and 4 eggs.
Mix by hand until smooth. If using coconut oil, know that the the batter won't be perfectly smooth. Divide batter evenly into the three pans.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, invert and let cool completely.
6. While the cakes are cooling, combine sugar, butter, pineapple and the beaten eggs.
7. Cook over low to medium low heat, stirring constantly. Avoid cooking it too fast or on too high of a temperature or the eggs will cook in a rather unpleasant way. Increase heat to medium and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the bag of coconut.
While the icing is still warm, spread it on each yummy cake layer and the rest on top!
I recommend keeping your finished cake loosely covered or in a cake saver until you've eaten it all up!
Yummy!! The cake is moist and crumbly, with a fresh lemony-limey-pineapple flavor.
And the icing...so gooey and sweet!
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7Up Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1 small box vanilla or pineapple instant pudding mix
- ¾ cup coconut oil
- If using vanilla pudding use 7 ounces 7-Up plus 3 ounces of pineapple juice OR
- If using pineapple pudding mix use 10 ounces of 7-Up
- 4 eggs
For the Icing
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup crushed pineapple undrained
- 1 bag sweetened coconut flakes
- 2 whole eggs beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with coconut oil.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix & pudding mix. Then add oil, 7-Up (and pineapple juice) and 4 eggs. Mix well & divide evenly into the three pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, invert and let cool completely.
- While cakes are cooling, combine sugar, butter, pineapple and the beaten eggs. in a medium saucepan .Cook over low to medium low heat, stirring constantly. Increase heat to medium and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the bag of coconut.
- Spread the warm icing over the cake layers and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Eva says
Thank you so much for this recipe I have searched for it forever. My grandma made this for me for my birthday when I was a child and it has always been my favorite cake. Sincerely, ERobinson.
Teri says
Ms Eva you absolutely just made my day with your comment...and reminds me of why I started this blog. This recipe was one of my favorites, and reminds me so much of my grandmother. Please enjoy it with your family. 🙂
Noriko says
Teri,
Since you can't find the pineapple pudding anymore, couldn't you get a pineapple cake mix and mix lemon pudding into it? Or would it not be the same?
Teri says
That's a great idea! I'll have to try that and see how it turns out. 🙂 Thank you for the suggestion.
Liz says
Your cake looks delicious. I am going to be baking a 7-Up cake today, because my birthday is tomorrow. I wondered if it would hold up in 3 cake pans but everyone uses a bundt. I was happy to find your page and see that you did what I want to do!! It is impossible to find instant pineapple pudding mix, I have searched before, and I'm from Hawaii! Aloha!
Teri says
Happy Birthday!??We should start a petition with Jell-O to bring back pineapple pudding specifically for this cake. Enjoy the cake and I hope you love it on your special day.
Teri says
Oh and I am from Tennessee. Thank you for letting us borrow Marcus Mariota. We love him.
De Stephens says
Is white sugar confectioners or granulated sugar?
Teri says
Granulated sugar.
Charles McKenry says
I lost my Mom's recipe years ago but this looks a lot like it. It was such an amazing cake. Her recipe had multiple choice for the pudding vanilla or pineapple and cake mix was pineapple, white or yellow. Her recipe also called for a lot of egg yolks if I remember right but hey this is closer than what I can remember. Thank you
Teri says
I bet your mother's recipe was amazing. I hope you get a chance to try this one, be sure to let me know how close it is to tasting like the one you remember.
Maeve says
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I have found that cake mixes are smaller now, therefore I use
Three-Ounce Cake Mix "Upsizer"
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Whisk all dry ingredients together and store in a clean mason jar. When you wish to increase a 15.25-ounce cake mix to 18.25 ounces, add three ounces of this mix (6 tablespoons) to your existing cake mix and bake according to directions.
Teri says
THAT is a brilliant kitchen hack! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Sally says
I made this cake years ago. It called for regular pineapple pudding mix. Then at a later time I tried to get the ingredients and could not find the regular pineapple pudding, only the instant. I used the instant and it made it like a pound cake. When using regular pudding mix, it came out as a regular cake. It was still very good. I am going to try it again.
Teri says
Thank you for the feedback. I also have trouble finding pineapple pudding. But I'll add a note to use regular pudding instead of instant.
katie says
can you tell me the cook book this came out of? I've been looking for that particular book. I only have a few pages of recipes my mom left me and I would love to find the actual book.
Teri says
This came out of the Springville, Tennessee Volunteer Fire Department Cookbook. I'd be happy to scan and email or mail copies.
Carlee says
I've been making a cookbook for my mom from her grandmother's recipe cards (My great-grandma). She left out the measurements for a few ingredients; it is this exact recipe, so thank you for uploading it!!
Teri says
Yay! Our grandmothers were the bomb!
Jennifer Keeton says
How many cups of coconut? Where I live there are several sizes to choose from. Tysm!
Teri says
I used about 2 cups.