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Orange Crush Cake {Super Easy Recipe!}

Nothing can be easier to make than this Orange Crush cake recipe. All you need is a box of cake mix and Orange Crush soda and you are in business! Flavors come together to create a cake that tastes just like an orange creamsicle! 

Cakes and cupcakes are the sweetest desserts to serve and I like to make our chocolate chip cake, snow cone cupcakes, or for another soda-flavored option, our Shirley Temple cupcakes

Orange Crush Cake

When it's time to celebrate a birthday or special occasion in our house, I prefer to make a homemade cake because it's more personal and feels special. 

And, let's be honest, it tastes better too! 

Normally, the requested cake flavor in our house is chocolate, but this time I wanted something different to celebrate our daughter's birthday. 

Looking through the pantry gave me an idea to create a dessert using one of my favorite soda pop flavors and a box of cake mix.

Orange Crush soda and boxed cake mix come together to make a delicious cake perfect for that special birthday!

Orange Crush Cake is Super Easy to Make

I don't think a cake recipe can be any easier than this Orange Crush cake.

All you need is a boxed cake mix, Orange Crush soda, and some vanilla frosting for a fancy “Ombre” frosting decoration.

Making the ombre frosting was a lot easier than I thought it would be and the end product looks as though hours were spent putting it together. Ahh, what a few drops of food coloring can do! 

I have a really helpful process below to make this pretty icing from homemade cream cheese frosting or from a tub of store-bought frosting! 

Ingredients for orange crush cake

This cake really is super easy, and only requires a few ingredients to make a soft, delicious sweet treat with this popular crush soda flavor. 

  • Orange Soda: grab a bottle of your favorite Orange flavored soda and be sure not to sneak a sip! 
  • Boxed cake mix: A box of vanilla cake mix is perfect for this type of orange crush dump cake.
  • Frosting: You can use homemade cream cheese frosting, or if you don't want to make the frosting from scratch, just use a tub of pre-made like Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting, Duncan Hines Vanilla Frosting, or Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting

If you want to create the layers of colors, be sure to get vanilla frosting so the different shades stand out. 

Orange Crush Cake is a deliciously easy recipe with orange crush soda, box cake mix and a bit of food coloring. A few twists of frosting and you have a special dessert for any occasion.

What You Need to Make Orange Crush Soda Pop Cake

When baking cakes, loaves of bread, or cookies, I really like to use my favorite USA non-stick pans. They are treated with silicone so you don't have to oil or dust them with flour, making it an easy-release pan for baked goods. 

Here are some of my favorite kitchen tools in my cabinet and a few other baking essentials too. 

Other useful items for this recipe:

  • Mixing Bowl: a big mixing bowl is perfect for combining cake batter.
  • Spatula: use a mixing spatula to scrape the batter on sides of the mixing bowl.
  • Measuring cups & spoons: these come in handy when mixing up your colors for the ombre frosting. 
  • Cooling Rack: cooling your orange crush cake is really important. You want to make sure it is cooled completely before frosting your cake.
  • Cake Plate: a pretty cake plate makes even the simplest dessert look fancy! 
  • Cake server: cut and serve each delicious slice of cake using this flat-bottom triangle-shaped utensil.
  • Decorating Bags & tips: are needed for rosette swirls of colored frosting.  
orange crush cake slice

How to Make Orange Crush Cake

Make sure you preheat the oven to cake mix directions. This temperature can range from 325 to 375 degrees, depending on your type of pan (non-stick pans bake at a lower temperature) and oven. 

Now you will prep your cake pans and make sure they have been treated with spreading butter or lining with parchment paper rounds.

Combine the cake mix and orange soda in a big bowl and mix it with a hand-held mixer. The beauty of this special cake is how simple it is!

While this is baking, you can prepare your colored frosting.

 cake with orange soda

How to Make Orange Ombre Cake Frosting

I like to make my own cream cheese frosting for this cake. The flavor is not overly sweet and it pipes through the decorating bags & tips really well. 

You can most certainly use store-bought frosting. Be sure to buy the white frosting so your colors will be vibrant. 

Because this is an orange-flavored cake, I stuck with shades of orange, but your colors can be anything your heart desires! 

Combine butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla and whip together for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Now we're talking. 

Place frosting evenly into three separate bowls.

In one bowl, add enough orange coloring for a deep orange. The second batch should be a few shades lighter, and the last, even lighter.

  • Frost cake with a thin layer of the lightest color.
  • Place each shade of orange-colored frosting in three separate pastry bags with large star tip (Wilton 1M).
  • With the darkest color, swirl rosettes on the bottom. Use the peachy orange in the middle and finish with the lightest color.

It kind of reminds you of a creamsicle, doesn't it?! 

Other frosting color shade combos to try:

  • Red/Pink- Christmas/Valentine's Day
  • Purple/Lavender/ Yellow- Easter/Spring/Mother's Day
  • Green- Christmas/ St. Patrick's Day/ Spring/ Easter/Father's Day
  • Blue/ Hannukah/ Baby Shower / Birthday

We have other soda cake & orange flavor recipes for you to try:

This super easy recipe can be made for any occasion, like a birthday, special holiday treat, or a “just because” day! Topped with store-bought frosting that is colored in shades of orange, helps to make this a stand-out dessert. 

Orange Creamsicle cake with orange soda
Yield: 12

Orange Crush Cake

Orange Crush Cake recipe

Orange Crush Cake combines Orange Crush Soda and boxed cake mix and together create a super easy, moist, cake recipe to share for any special occasion.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • Cake:
  • 1 box white cake mix
  • 1 bottle or can Orange soda, measure out 12 oz.
  • Frosting:
  • ½ lb butter, 2 sticks, room temperature
  • 1 package cream cheese, 8oz., room temperature
  • 1 lb. package confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Orange food coloring

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease and flour 2 cake pans.
  3. In a big bowl, Combine cake mix and 1 can (or measure out 12 oz.) orange soda. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE TO THE CAKE MIX.
  4. Pour into greased and floured cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick tests clean.
  5. Cool 10 minutes in pan then turn out to wire rack to cool completely.
  6. Make frosting:
  7. In a mixer, combine butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
  8. Whip together for 2-3 minutes until smooth.
  9. Separate into thirds. In one bowl, add enough orange coloring for a deep orange. In the second bowl, make orange a few shades lighter. In the last bowl, even lighter.
  10. Place one cooled cake on platter.
  11. Top with a thin layer of the lightest color.
  12. Top with the second layer of cake and spread a very thin layer of frosting over the entire cake.
  13. Place each shade of orange-colored frosting in three separate pastry bags with a large star tip (Wilton 1M).
  14. With the darkest color, swirl rosettes on the bottom. Repeat with middle color.
  15. Finish with the lightest color.
  16. If you do not want to make cream cheese frosting, you can easily buy a tub of vanilla frosting and use that instead.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 392Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 206mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 0gSugar: 41gProtein: 2g

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 original post: 3/29/19

Updated: 6/5/20, 1/27/22

Teresa

Saturday 14th of January 2023

No eggs?

Kelly Pugliano

Saturday 14th of January 2023

That is correct. Cake mix and soda- that’s it!

Michele

Thursday 17th of March 2022

Did anyone have any problems with this coming our completely flat and wet, despite being cooked through? The instructions were followed meticulously.

Kelly Pugliano

Tuesday 5th of April 2022

One box of cake mix and 1 can of soda is all you need!

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Sunday 18th of July 2021

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Regina

Monday 3rd of May 2021

May seem like a silly question, but I'd like to make this in a Bundt pan. Any reason that is not a good idea? Any tips? Thanks!

Kelly Pugliano

Tuesday 4th of May 2021

I think making this in a bundt pan would be amazing! Baking in a bundt pan may take slightly longer- maybe 50 minutes? I would start doing a "toothpick test" around the 30 min mark and check every 10 minutes until done. I will have to test this out myself! :)

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Thursday 31st of December 2020

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