Can you really make a cake out of diet soda?

Can you make a cake with soda? It’s an age-old question, thanks to a longtime cooking hack for making a two-ingredient “skinny cake.”

The recipe is called “skinny cake” for a simple reason. Instead of using eggs, oil or any of the other add-ons required by a typical box of cake mix, this hack just uses two ingredients. Apparently, you can simply combine the cake mix with a can of diet soda.

The viral cooking hack existed for years, but it’s gaining attention yet again — thanks to TikTok. One user, Janelle Rohner, drew almost 7 million views on her clip attempting the trick.

@janellerohner

“Skinny” cake from a box mix and a soda??? #learnontiktok #foodie

♬ Juice – Lizzo

Users had plenty of praise for the concept.

“OK I’m trying this right now,” one user wrote.

“Can confirm this works!” another agreed.

The hack got glowing reviews, but we couldn’t just take TikTok users’ word for it. That’s why we grabbed a box of cake mix and decided to try out the recipe ourselves. To find out what happened, check out the video above, or keep reading below.

How to make a cake with soda

This recipe is so simple, it doesn’t even need an ingredient list. All you have to do is grab a box of any cake mix you want from the grocery store — and get a single can of soda, too. Apparently, any soda works, but most internet chefs seem to like something with a lemon-lime flavor, such as diet 7UP (which is what we used).

In a big bowl, mix the soda with the cake mix. Then, pour it into a cake pan or cupcake mold and bake according to the box instructions. It’s that easy!

Is ‘skinny cake’ better than regular cake?

So to see how well this recipe really works, we decided to go with cupcakes. Once our mini “skinny cakes” were ready, we compared them to a set of cupcakes made the normal way — with eggs, oil and water added according to the box instructions.

The results were pretty jarring. The soda cake tasted just as good as the regular-made cupcakes — and it was easier, cheaper and technically had fewer calories in it. It seems like this old-school hack has lasted so long for a reason.

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If you liked this story, check our video on how to make “vegan cheese” out of cashews.

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