Coca-Cola Cake

From The Country Cook. This is very reminiscent of the 7-Up Bundt cake. The cake is not dry and the frosting is almost fudge-like. I'm not a fan of nuts in my desserts, but I didn't mind the chopped pecans so much.

Cake:
1 box (15.25 oz.) chocolate fudge cake mix
1 small box (4 oz.) instant chocolate pudding
Number of eggs listed on back of cake mix box
Amount of oil listed on back of cake mix box
Coca-Cola (use amount listed for water on back of cake mix box)

Frosting:
1 stick (1/2 C.) butter
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
4-6 Tbsp. heavy cream, or 3-4 Tbsp. milk
2 C. packed powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
chopped pecans, optional

For cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, add cake mix, pudding mix, and eggs, oil, and Coca-Cola as listed on the back of the cake mix box. For example, if the cake mix called for 3 eggs, 1/3 C. oil, and 1 C. water you would add 3 eggs, 1/3 C. oil, and 1 C. Coca-Cola, but no water. Mix ingredients according to package directions. Pour batter into baking dish and bake according to package directions.

For frosting: Approximately five minutes before cake is ready to come out of the oven, start making frosting. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, start melting butter. Add in cocoa and 4 Tbsp. cream (or 3 Tbsp. milk) and stir. Stir in powdered sugar. Use a whisk and stir briskly to get all the lumps out. Add additional cream or milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Take mixture off heat and add vanilla extract. Once the cake comes out of the oven, pour frosting over the warm cake. Spread the frosting as evenly as possible. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of frosting, if desired. Yummy served with vanilla ice cream.

Notes: I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix. My cake started to get a little burned on the edges even though the middle was not done. I lowered the temperature to 325 degrees. Next time I would probably cook the cake at 325 degrees the whole time.