Chocolate Coke Cake

Chocolate Coke cake is a Southern favorite, and this recipe of Old-Fashioned Coca-Cola Cake is a great version. The combination of buttermilk and Coke help to keep this chocolate cake perfectly moist. This recipe for Old-Fashioned Coca-Cola Cake is particularly special because it has marshmallows folded right into the batter. Another great thing about this homemade cake recipe is that you can either make it in two round cake pans or in one large casserole dish. Once the cake has cooled, it is frosted with a delicious homemade frosting made from butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and a bit more Coke.
                                      Serves: 12
1            cup Coca-Cola
1/2         cup buttermilk
1            cup butter, room temperature
1            cup granulated sugar
3/4         cup brown sugar
2            large eggs
1            tablespoon vanilla
2            cups flour
1/2         cup unsweetened cocoa
1            teaspoon baking soda
1            cup mini marshmallows
1-1/2      cups chopped nuts, I used pecans
Frosting (recipe  below)

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in middle of oven.
2 .  Mix Coke and buttermilk together in a measuring cup, set aside.
3 .  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients all at once. Mix and add the coke mixture all at once. Fold in the marshmallows.
4 .   Spoon mixture into two greased and lined 9 inch cake pans or one greased 9x13 cake pan.
5 .   Bake 30-35 minutes for layer cake and about 35-40 minutes for 9x13. Cake is done when a few moist crumbs are attached to a toothpick.
6 .  Remove from oven and if using layer pans, run a butter knife around edges and invert onto a rack to cool, placing the parchment side down so it won't stick to the rack. Make sure to peel parchment paper off before frosting cakes.
Cool completely.

Frosting:
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup coke
2-3 tablespoons milk or cream as needed

1 .  Mix the butter in a bowl with powdered sugar and cocoa. Add salt, vanilla and coke. Beat until creamy. Add milk until desired spreading consistency.
2 .  Place cake on a platter. Spread 1/3 of frosting on layer. Top with other layer. Spread frosting on top and sides. Place chopped nuts on top of cake.
Serves 12

Tips:
This cake is very tender, or falls apart easily because it is so moist. Be careful to not over bake. The first time I experimented with this recipe, it came out dry. I think I baked it for 40-45 minutes. I found that about 35 minutes worked perfect in my oven.

The cake will come out with little indents where the marshmallows have melted and sunken into the batter. No worries. The frosting will fill in the indents.

You may add up to another cup of marshmallows to the cake batter if you wish. Only use fresh marshmallows.
Don't use Diet Coke.