7up Sheet Cake Recipe
Create a bright and sunny 7up Sheet Cake and feed the crowd a delicious lemon-lime dessert topped with an incredible citrusy frosting!
Why We Love 7up Sheet Cake
- A 7up cake is a wonderfully bright cake perfect for feeding everyone at the party! It’s like a citrusy Texas sheet cake – big slices with a thin layer of frosting on top.
- While a 7up cake is usually made in a Bundt pan to create a 7up pound cake, a sheet cake bakes in about 20 minutes, there’s no worry about it sticking to the pan, and doesn’t make you feel weighed down with sweetness!
- This easy 7up cake is made from scratch using simple pantry ingredients plus soda, sour cream, eggs, and butter to make this cake moist and fluffy, and fresh lemon-lime zest for lots of citrus flavor!
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make 7up Sheet Cake
DRY INGREDIENTS: To make this sheet cake, you will need all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and granulated sugar.
WET INGREDIENTS: Grab the 7up, vegetable oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract.
PRODUCE: Stop by the produce section to pick up a few fresh lemons and limes to zest.
FROSTING: To make the frosting, you will need salted butter, 7up, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. You will also need more lemon zest and lime zest.
How to Make a Moist 7up Cake
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray half sheet pan (18 x13x1-inch) with baking spray with flour (like Baker’s Joy). Stir the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a medium mixing bowl and set that aside for now.
STEP 2 Whisk the sugar, 7Up, oil, sour cream, eggs, lemon zest, lime zest, and vanilla together in a large bowl until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
STEP 3 Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan and smooth out evenly. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
STEP 4 When the cake is almost done baking, add the butter and 7up to a medium saucepan and bring to medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil, and then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the powdered sugar a little at a time until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the lemon and lime zest and vanilla.
STEP 5 Once the cake is out of the oven and still hot, pour the frosting over the cake and smooth evenly using an offset spatula. Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Tips & Tricks
- Any light soda, such as Sprite, Starry, Mountain Dew, and Ginger Ale will work in this recipe.
- The lemon and lime zest add a lot of citrus flavor to the cake but you can omit the zest if you need to.
- For an even bigger and brighter lemon punch, add up to 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract to the cake batter and a tiny splash to the frosting!
- A handful of white chocolate chips would be a delicious addition to this cake, you know… if you have some on hand…
- This 7up cake is best served at room temperature. Store the cake covered on the counter for up to three days or in the fridge for up to a week. You can also chill the cake and then wrap it tightly and freeze it for up to three months.
7Up Cake Recipe FAQ
What does 7up do to a cake?
All sodas, with their tasty flavors and fizzy bubbles, have a fun and science-y effect on cakes! The flavor of the soda adds to the overall flavor of the cake, but the bubbles are where the magic is. The bubbles in the soda help leaven a cake, making it rise and become wonderfully light and fluffy without the use of other ingredients!
What is the difference between a quarter-sheet cake and a half-sheet cake?
The difference between a quarter-sheet cake and a half comes down to the size of the pan and how many servings you get from each pan. Most people are familiar with a quarter sheet pan, which is 9×13, about the size of a regular cake pan. A quarter-sheet cake can feed approximately 20-24 people. A half-sheet pan is 18×13, which is longer and can really feed a crowd, 36-48 people if you slice it right! Since this cake is so thin, we’re cutting nice big slices.
Do cake mix and soda really work?
Remember reading above how magical the bubbles are? Well, if you wanted to be even more of a food scientist, you could skip all of the ingredients except for the soda and a box of cake mix and still create a sweet, moist, and oh-so-delicious cake! 7up cake is great when made from scratch, but you can just as easily make it using a box of your favorite white or yellow cake mix and 7up, and enjoy the same scrumptious cake!
Other Recipes You May Like
- Vanilla Sheet Cake
- Funfetti Ice Cream Bread
- Lemonade Pie
- Lemon Bundt Cake with Strawberry Frosting
- Lemon Raspberry Cake
7up Sheet Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup 7up
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 lime zested
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Frosting
- ½ cup butter
- 6 tablespoons 7up
- 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 lime zested
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 18-inch x 13-inch x 1-inch half-sheet pan with baking spray with flour and set aside. (You can also use butter and flour to prep the pan.)
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, 7Up, vegetable oil, sour cream, eggs, lemon zest, lime zest, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture and whisk to combine until the batter is smooth with no lumps.
- Pour the cake batter onto the prepared baking sheet and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven.
- Just before the cake is done baking, begin to make the icing. Add the butter and 7Up to a medium saucepan and place it over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar a little at a time so the icing is smooth with no lumps. Whisk in the lemon zest, lime zest, and vanilla until combined.
- Immediately pour the frosting over the warm cake and use an offset spatula to smooth it over the entire cake.
- Allow the cake to cool completely, about 30-45 minutes, before cutting into slices and serving.
Notes
- Any light soda would work with this recipe, Sprite, Mountain Dew, or even Ginger Ale.
- You don’t have to add the lemon & lime zests, but it definitely amps up the citrus flavors.
- Keeps covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.