This shop with the yummy Sierra Mist Cake recipe and easy flower snack idea has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AHugeSale #CollectiveBias #JewelOsco
It’s officially birthday palooza around here. Little Miss turns 10 (ten?!) on Saturday, my husband has his on Friday and my dad on Monday – I’ll spare them and not share ages. Needles to say, everyone wants to have birthdays celebrated, and not even just on their day. Today, my dad announced he was coming over and wanted to do an “early” birthday celebration with us and a couple of Little Miss’ friends.
I can do that. No real warning, no problem. Fortunately, Jewel is just around the corner, and they always have exactly what I need. I can run there in two minutes and be home, finished with shopping in under twenty. That’s the only way I can pull together a party in a couple hours. Fortunately, Jewel always has everything I need and they recently remodeled my store, making it easier than ever to find everything. Bonus? They’re having an anniversary sale starting today and running through August 11. I love being able to stock up for parties and not feel like I’m breaking the bank.
As I zipped through the store trying to decide what I was going to do to feed and occupy everyone, I realized I had some great ideas that would keep everyone having fun and enjoying the food at the same time. I grabbed some Sierra Mist and Crush 2 Liters, as well as some Peach Mango Tropicana Farmstand juice. That’s always perfect for beverages since I can serve just what we need and not have anything go to waste. Plus, it’s always fun to add juice to the Sierra Mist for kids and let them think they’re getting something extra special.
And today, I decided to also make a Sierra Mist cake. It’s a lemony pound cake that is quick and easy to whip together from scratch and tastes great while using items – plus the pop I just picked up – to make it. Have you ever made a Sierra Mist cake before? It’s a great pound cake that isn’t too heavy because of the lemon, and the glaze adds just the right note of sweet and tart to finish it off.
As I raced toward the checkout to start that Sierra Mist cake, I passed the snack aisle and grabbed a couple bags of the Quaker rice cakes. One of my favorite snacks that turns into an activity is making fruit flowers, and I already had blueberries, cherries, and grapes in my cart. Done and done.
Needless to say, my first order of business was to make the Sierra Mist cake. It takes just over an hour to bake, so even though we weren’t going to be eating it right away, I didn’t want to be taken away from the fun of hanging with everyone. When Little Miss heard we were making a cake, her ears perked up and that additional helper meant I was able to get it into the oven even faster. I love that the wee ones are my cooking and baking buddies.
Sierra Mist Cake Recipe
I’ve seen cakes made with pop from time to time, and I love the idea of adding just a little extra flavor and sparkle with pop instead of milk in a pound cake. Because I decided to make a Sierra Mist cake, I wanted to really bring out the flavor of the lemon and lime pop, which meant adding lemon and lime juice to the cake and the glaze I put over it. It turned out moist and delicious, and everyone loved it. The only thing I’ll caution is to make sure you let it cool fully before removing it from your fluted pan. Me? I got impatient, and it may not have come out cleanly. That doesn’t stop it from tasting amazing, however!
For the most part, you make this the same way you would make any pound cake. Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Grease your fluted cake pan, well. This works best as a bundt cake and not a round cake pan.
Cream your sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Because there is no leavening agent, it’s important to ensure you get air into your batter before mixing in the flour. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Do you see how well Little Miss has learned to do eggs? I’m so proud of her!
This is where you add the lemon juice, lemon extract (for an extra punch), and lime juice. One they’re incorporated into the batter, add your flour a cup at a time. Mix gently just until it’s mostly incorporated, then add another cup. I get it partially mixed with my mixer on low then finish off each addition by using my spatula to stir it in. Once the flour is added, slowly pour in the Sierra Mist (see? This is where the Sierra Mist cake gets its name) while stirring. Once it’s incorporated, stop mixing.
Pour your batter into your prepared cake pan. If you have a helper to carefully turn the pan while you pour, that’s ideal, but if not, pour a third, stop, then turn the pan and repeat. You don’t need to pour it completely evenly in your pan, as it’ll even out. One quick tip: once your batter is in the cake pan, run a sharp knife through the center of the pan to make a circle within it. This tells the batter where to “break” so you don’t end up with an uneven rise. You’ll end up being able to flip it later more easily and evenly.
Bake for an hour and five minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes, depending on your oven. When it comes out with crumbs, remove it from the oven and let it cool ten to fifteen minutes. To get it to release, turn it angled to the side and tap and continue doing that all the way around, turning the bundt pan so that you’ve ensured all sides are loosened before flipping onto a plate.
While the cake it cooling, make your glaze. Place your powdered sugar in a bowl, and add the lemon juice, lime juice, and Sierra Mist. Stir with a fork until it’s completely combined. The Sierra Mist will fizz a bit at the start, but that’s about it. Once your cake has cooled a bit out of the pan, carefully pour the glaze over your cake and let it run down. Serve immediately. This will store tightly covered on your counter for up to two days. It also freezes very well for up to a month.
Easy Flower Snacks
For the rest of our impromptu party food, I made little flower snacks with the Quaker rice cakes. This is one of my favorite snacks since it looks like such a treat but is so easy to make and gets protein and fruit in you, too. The fun of this is that you can adjust it to your personal taste preferences. I usually make up a few of them to give people an idea of what they can do with it and then leave out the fixings in bowls for them to make their own.
On each rice cake, I’ll spread a thin layer of peanut butter or chocolate spread. Over that I’ll add flax seed (total sneaky way to get something healthy in there, right?) or unsweetened coconut flakes. Then it gets topped with fruit that make a petal and center. You can use whatever you have on hand. Today I made it with halved grapes (they stay on the flower snack better once you bite into it), blueberries, and cherries. Make sure you pit the cherries before putting them out for anyone to use! This also works beautifully with strawberries, peaches, apples, and more. Choose your favorite fruit and have at it.
This is a fun after school snack or for parties. I love that I can make some and then let kids make their own exactly how they want. It’s a fun activity for them, and they always love comparing what they made to what their friends made. It requires no cooking or baking, either, which is perfect for this time of year! Bonus? Rice cakes means they’re gluten free, which is great for so many of our friends!
All the fixings for an awesome impromptu party with my dad, Little Miss, and her friends, and everyone was happy. Getting to choose their own drinks and snack was a special treat (or so I was informed by one little girl – so cute!), and the Sierra Mist cake was a huge hit, too. Bonus, I was able to shop the Jewel-Osco Huge Anniversary Sale for everything I needed, which means my pocketbook isn’t hurting. Check out the great Anniversary Sale deals at Safeway, Vons, Alberstons, Shaws, and more to see how you can stock up for your next party.
Sierra Mist Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 1/2 cups butter unsalted
- 3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 3 cups flour
- 2/3 cup Sierra Mist
For the glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons Sierra Mist
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease bundt pan.
- Beat sugar and butter until lightened in color and texture. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.1 1/2 cups butter, 3 cups sugar, 5 eggs
- Add the lemon juice, lemon extract, and lime juice. Stir until fully incorporated.2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon extract, 1 teaspoon lime juice
- Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing on low until mostly incorporated before adding the next cup. Use a spatula to ensure all the flour is stirred in rather than over stirring the batter.3 cups flour
- Pour in your Sierra Mist while slowly mixing the batter until just incorporated.2/3 cup Sierra Mist
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in your 325 degree oven for an hour and five minutes to an hour and ten minutes, until your cake tester comes out with crumbs.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn pan sideways and tap to loosen, turning the pan to ensure you have the entire cake loose before turning out onto a plate to cool the rest of the way.
- While the cake it cooling, mix together your glaze. Add the powdered sugar to a bowl, then add the lemon juice, lime juice, and Sierra Mist and stir with a fork until smooth. Pour carefully over the top of your cake, letting it drip down the sides.1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 2 tablespoons Sierra Mist
- Serve immediately. This will keep tightly covered on your counter for up to two days and will freeze well for up to a month.
Notes
- Don't rush to remove this from the pan. If you remove the cake before it cools long enough, it will stick to the pan and break. Be patient!
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
You could even mix this up with different soda flavors.
Thanks for sharing on Creative K Kids’ Tasty Tuesdays link up. Hope to see you back next week.
You could definitely do it with different flavors. The lemon was a perfect touch for this cake – definitely one I’m making again!
The cake looks amazing! I’ve never tried a soda cake before. [client]
How cool is this cake?! There are so many recipes you can use soda in. I’d have never thought of this! I imagine it’s light and sweet, and totally want to try it. The flower pastries came out so cute too!