Aunt Lucille’s 7-Up Pound Cake

Name: Aunt Lucille’s 7-Up Pound Cake
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

Recipe: Reprinted with permission from The Twisted Soul Cookbook: Modern Soul Food with Global Flavors by Deborah VanTrece, Rizzoli New York, 2021.

Photo: Noah Fecks

April 05, 2021

Lemon-lime soda gives this pound cake a fizzy twist.

Growing up in the Midwest, award-winning chef and Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours owner Deborah VanTrece notes 7-Up was the most popular pop of them all. “It was good for stomachaches, great with food, and was the star ingredient of the iconic 7-Up Cake,” VanTrece writes in her new book, The Twisted Soul Cookbook. The high carbonation levels and buoyant lemon-lime flavor of the pop carried this glazed pound cake prepared by VanTrece’s Aunt Lucille, who kept a special 7-Up reserve in her basement. “This is the kind of recipe that reminds you how good old-fashioned cakes were (and can be),” says VanTrece.

Ingredients

Yield:Serves 12 to 16

1½ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour, sifted
¾ cup 7-Up

Tools:10-inch Bundt or tube pan, nonstick cooking spray, stand mixer or hand mixer, 6-inch wooden skewer or toothpick, small bowl

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spray a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan with nonstick cooking spray. [NOTE: Don’t skip this step unless you like digging your cake out of the pan! I swear by Baker’s Joy Non-Stick Baking Spray with Flour and recommend a smoother Bundt pan for less chance of sticking.]

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar for 5 to 7 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add the flour one-third at a time and mix on low speed, alternating with ¼-cup portions of the lemon-lime soda, mixing well after each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for 30 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and lift the pan off of the cake. Let the cake cool on the rack.

While the cake cools, make the 7-Up glaze (see recipe below).

Using a 6-inch wooden skewer or toothpick, poke holes in the top of the cooled cake. Slowly spoon the glaze over the cake, letting it run into the holes and over the surface. Set the cake aside for 10 minutes before serving to let the glaze absorb into the cake and give it a lightly lacquered finish.

7-Up Glaze: In a small bowl, stir together 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of 7-Up, and 1 teaspoon of grated lime zest until smooth.