As someone with a strong sweet tooth and a mother who’s amazing at baking, dessert is one thing I always feel homesick for. Unfortunately, finding something freshly baked on campus is like finding a unicorn — and, like a lot of other students, I mainly get by on things I can buy on campus.

When I came back this semester to see that Stony Brook had switched to being a Coca Cola campus, I was beyond excited — not for the soda itself, but for one of my favorite desserts: Coca Cola chocolate cake.

There is no easier dessert recipe to make in a dorm. All the ingredients can be purchased without stepping foot off campus — I bought mine right in the East Emporium! It doesn’t require any fancy utensils or ingredients, so it’s a recipe for the most basic of dorm bakers.

Classic Cake

Ingredients

-1 box of Devil’s Food Cake cake mix

-12 fluid ounces of Coke

-Powdered sugar or 1 can frosting, by preference

(Yes, that’s seriously the entire ingredients list!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F for glass or shiny metal pans, or 325 F for dark or non-stick pans
2. Mix together the cake mix and 12 fl oz of Coke in a large mixing bowl – do not add any of the additional ingredients listed on the box, as the Coke replaces these ingredients.
3. Prepare your pan of choice (13” x 9”, 8” round, or cupcake pan) with spray, butter, or cupcake papers.
4. Bake per pan instructions on the box, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake time to cool.
5. To top off the cake, you can use chocolate frosting, though it’s moist enough not to require it- a topping of sprinkled powdered sugar is yummy, too!

Microwave Cake

The microwave method of making a chocolate cola cake is a little more experimental, but it’s just as yummy. For those students who don’t have cake pans at their disposal (like me), a coffee mug in the microwave is much simpler, and is perfect for those late night study sessions when your sweet tooth starts acting up.

Directions

1. With your mug of choice, scoop in cake mix until it fills roughly ⅓ of the mug.
2. Pour in Coke in small amounts, mixing as you go, until the mix reaches a cake batter consistency. The batter shouldn’t fill the mug more than half way, as the cake rises quite a bit.
3. Microwave for 1 ½ – 2 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick (or, like I used, a plastic knife from East) comes out clean. Be careful! The mug comes out hot, let cool for one minute.
4. Eat with powdered sugar, frosting, or plain — it’s yummy any way you eat it!