This Is The Unexpected Ingredient That Keeps Your Cakes From Coming Out Dry

When you think of cake, you think of celebration. But if you have a dry cake, that might send the wrong message. The good news is that the perfect ingredient to keep cakes moist is probably already in your fridge — and it’s something you likely don’t expect.

You probably heard of baking soda before, but have you ever heard of baking with soda? Because for some reason, using a can of soda in with your cake mix helps keep it moist. Typically, bakers like to use darker sodas like Coca-Cola for chocolate recipes, and lighter sodas like Sprite for yellow or vanilla cakes. But, it’s all about experimentation.  Can you imagine how good strawberry cake would taste with a little bit of vanilla cream soda added in? Yum.

According to the Huffington Post, if you’re using a pre-boxed cake mix, the soda can take over for all of the other ingredients. Just 12 ounces of soda combined with the mix is enough to get you a delicious cake.

Don’t believe us? We actually tried it ourselves:

It sounds risky, but it’s perfect to try if you need to make a quick cake without too much effort.

Also, it must be said — by substituting soda, it can technically cut down on calories just a bit — especially if you use diet soda.

It seems weird that a can of soda can replace something like an egg, but it works — and it’s also a great way to make a vegan dessert in a pinch, according to LiveStrong. Even though its own ingredients can sometimes seem a little scary, soda is still a wonderful way to add a little bit of moisture.

Coca-Cola has also been using to cook or marinate a bunch of different foods. For example, how good does this pork tenderloin look?

The big question is, who was the person who tried this concoction and realized it worked? Since adding soda to cake mix is pretty much the definition of thinking outside the box!