I made the Coca-Cola cake Faith Hill bakes Tim McGraw every year on his birthday – and it's as 'crazy good' as Ina Garten says

Maria NoyenSep 2, 2023, 18:28 IST

The author enjoyed her slice of Coca-Cola cake with a glass of soda.Maria Noyen/Insider

I recently made the Coca-Cola cake Faith Hill baked on "Be My Guest With Ina Garten."
The cake, which Hill says is a family favorite, features Coca-Cola in the batter and the frosting.

Faith Hill left Ina Garten impressed when she recently baked her family favorite dessert: Coca-Cola cake.

Faith Hill and Ina Garten attend the TIME 100 Gala on April 21, 2015, in New York City.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME

I have a sweet tooth – but I'd never heard of using Coca-Cola in any cake recipe before.

The author was skeptical about using Coca-Cola as a baking ingredient.Maria Noyen/Insider

Faith's Coca-Cola cake features a lot of butter, cocoa powder, marshmallows, and, of course, Coca-Cola.

The ingredients Faith Hill's recipe calls for.Maria Noyen/Insider

After preheating my oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, I started making the batter.

There is a lot of butter in this cake.Maria Noyen/Insider

Next, I added the cocoa powder before pouring in a whole cup of Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola topped off the wet batter.Maria Noyen/Insider

The Coca-Cola created a noticeable layer of bubbles at the top of the hot mixture.

The wet ingredients.Maria Noyen/Insider

Over on the counter, I sifted the three main dry ingredients – flour, sugar, and baking soda – into a large bowl.

The dry ingredients are flour, sugar, and baking soda.Maria Noyen/Insider

Once the dry ingredients sifted through, I added the warm Coca-Cola, cocoa powder, and butter mixture into the bowl.

Combining the wet and dry ingredients.Maria Noyen/Insider

The next step involved adding the buttermilk, vanilla extract, and eggs, which Faith said to "spank" until runny with a fork.

Next, the author stirred in the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.Maria Noyen/Insider

The last ingredient of the cake batter is tiny marshmallows.

The final ingredient of the batter is tiny marshmallows.Maria Noyen/Insider

Before adding the batter to my pan, I prepped it with butter and dusted it with flour.

The Coca-Cola cake before baking.Maria Noyen/Insider

With the cake in the oven, I turned my attention to the frosting, which shares very similar ingredients to the batter.

The icing has similar ingredients to the batter.Maria Noyen/Insider

Yet again, the recipe called for Coca-Cola.

The icing also calls for more Coca-Cola.Maria Noyen/Insider

I then added more vanilla extract and, as Gracie said, a whole box of confectioners' sugar. At first, I was skeptical about how lumpy the frosting became.

The confectioners' sugar made the icing super lumpy.Maria Noyen/Insider

But after I pulled out a whisk to give the mixture a hefty stir, the frosting became smooth.

The icing when it was finished.Maria Noyen/Insider

I pulled the cake out of the oven at 33 minutes and poked it with a fork to create holes for the frosting to seep through.

The cake after 33 minutes of baking.Maria Noyen/Insider

Within minutes, the frosting had a shiny, glaze-like finish.

The icing immediately showed signs of hardening like a glaze.Maria Noyen/Insider

Faith and Gracie told Garten you can eat the cake "right away" – so I immediately cut myself a slice.

The cake looked moist.Maria Noyen/Insider

I now understand why Garten called Faith's Coca-Cola cake "crazy good."