I'm a major dessert person — you know, one of those people who looks at the dessert menu before deciding on my appetizer and entrée.
That's why, regardless of what I'm serving for dinner, the night always ends with decadence, namely, Joanna Gaines' chocolate-cola cake with chocolate-cola buttercream.
It's as scrumptious as it sounds and has become one of my go-to desserts for dinner parties and special occasions.
Here's how to make it.
To start, I gather all the ingredients.
Gaines' recipe calls for 12 ingredients, including nonstick baking spray, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, dark-brown sugar, kosher salt, salted butter, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, cola, baking soda, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
The salted butter, cocoa powder, and cola are also used to make the buttercream frosting, along with powdered sugar.
Next, I preheat the oven and whisk together the dry ingredients.
Once I have all the ingredients handy, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 10-inch round baking pan with nonstick spray.
Then, I begin making the cake batter by adding all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, dark-brown sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mixing thoroughly.
After the dry ingredients are combined, I boil butter, cocoa powder, and cola in a saucepan.
To continue making the batter, I add salted butter, cocoa powder, and cola to a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until it's completely smooth.
Then, I pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps.
In a separate bowl, I combine buttermilk and baking soda.
In another small bowl, I dissolve the baking soda in room-temperature buttermilk before pouring it into the existing batter.
After whisking, I add the vanilla extract and eggs and whisk again until smooth.
Then, it's time to bake.
I add the finished batter to my baking pan, then place it in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.
Once it's done, I let the cake cool on a wire rack while I prepare the frosting.
I use a mixer to prepare the chocolate-cola buttercream.
To make the frosting, I use my stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
At medium speed, I beat the room-temperature butter until smooth. Next, I add cola and cocoa powder and mix on low until there are no lumps.
Then, I scrape the bowl, add some powdered sugar, and mix on medium again before repeating the process with the remaining powdered sugar.
To finish, I frost the cake and serve it with fresh strawberries.
The last step is to gently spread the frosting over the cooled cake.
The cake itself is rich yet incredibly moist, thanks to the cola, while the buttercream frosting serves as the perfect creamy complement to the cake's consistency.
When it comes to presentation, I always like to pull out a fun cake pedestal, because I think a dessert of this caliber deserves one. I also place fresh strawberries around the cake to add a bit of color to my dessert table, and it looks absolutely decadent.
A small slice does the trick to satisfy any sweet-tooth cravings.
This story was originally published on February 17, 2026, and most recently updated on July 29, 2026.
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Alexa is a content strategist, editor, and writer based in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is well-seasoned in creating content for travel, lifestyle, fitness, wellness, F&B, home, and celeb news publications. Prior to living her dream as an independent contractor, Alexa was the Mind+Body and Weight Loss Deputy Editor for Eat This, Not That! Her work has appeared in Men's Fitness, Eat This, Not That!, Elite Daily, Celebwell, Tasting Table, Mashed, House Digest, and her own website, Weekend Edits. When she's not writing, you'll likely find Alexa at Pilates, hiking, designing her next tablescape, or jetting off on a getaway.https://www.weekendedits.com/https://www.instagram.com/alexamellardo/
