My Grandmother's 7Up Cake with Pineapple + Coconut Frosting (2024)

I can remember when my Grandmama Goldie made her 7Up Cake. I remember what it tasted like, what it smelled like. Pretty sure I tricked my little brother out of his piece a couple of times. (Yeah, I was a mean big sister.)

I always thought it was the craziest thing ever when my grandmother would pour a little glass bottle of 7Up into her cake. But we are talking about a woman who could throw together a meal like you've never seen for a brood of roughneck cowboys. You know, AFTER she had cooked all day working at the local school cafeteria. When I ran across her recipe in an old community cookbook, I knew immediately I had to give it a shot.

It is almost as good as I remember. Almost....

This 7Up Cake reminds me of my childhood.

Grandmama Goldie's recipe for this 7Up cake is pretty straightforward.

I don't remember if my grandmother did this or not, but instead of preparing my cake pans with shortening and flour, I always use butter and sugar.

You know sometimes if you get a bite of cake and the edge tastes dry and like flour? This doesn't happen using butter and sugar. The edges get sugary and slightly salty from the butter. So good!

Ingredients Needed:

For the Cake

• 1box lemon cake mix
• 1small box vanilla or pineapple instant pudding mix
• ¾cupvegetable oil
• If using vanilla puddinguse 7 ounces 7-Up plus 3 ounces of pineapple juice OR
• If using pineapple pudding mixuse 10 ounces of 7-Up
• 4eggs
• Butter and sugar to prepare the cake pans

For the Icing

• 1 ½cupswhite sugar
• 1stick butter
• 1cupcrushed pineapple undrained
• 1bag sweetened coconut flakes
• 2whole eggsbeaten

We were unable to find the pineapple instant pudding mix in our local stores. (I checked three!) So we did have to improvise.

I actually bought a box of lemon pudding and a box of vanilla...and decided to go with the vanilla.

To make up for the loss of the pineapple pudding, I changed the 10 ounces of 7Up soda to 7 ounces, and added 3 ounces of pineapple juice. (Oh and I dumped about ½ cup of crushed pineapple into the cake batter.) You know me, I've gotta tweak just about every recipe I come across. (Pretty sure sweet Goldie would approve.)

So what is the big deal with the 7Up? It gives the cake a bright and sweet lemon-lime flavor without being overpowering.

Need more dessert recipes?

Funfetti Cake Batter Waffles

Cheesecake Brownies

Frozen Mocha Pie

You can either measure the batter evenly in three pans, or eyeball it. The cake layers came out thinner than I remember...it seems like my grandmother's 7Up cake was bigger. But that may be my memory...you know how everything seemed larger when you were a kid. Or maybe she doubled the recipe?

How to Make 7-Up Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with butter and sugar.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, oil, 7-Up (and juice) and 4 eggs. Beat on medium speed until well blended, about 2-3 minutes. Divide evenly into the three pans.
3. Bake for 30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, invert and let cool completely.
4. In a medium sauce pan, combine sugar, butter, pineapple and the beaten eggs. Cook over low to medium low heat, stirring constantly. Increase heat to medium and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the bag of coconut.
5. Spread the warm icing over the cake layers and enjoy!

See Also

The Best 7-Up Cake (+Video)The Easiest 7 Up Cake Recipe {Lemon Lime Bundt Cake}7Up Sheet Cake Recipe7Up Pound Cake (a Lemon Lime Cake Recipe)

While the cake is cooling, time to cook up the icing. I beat the eggs before putting them in the pan, and stirred constantly while the butter and sugar melted. (My grandmother's recipe calls for margarine, but I don't use margarine...so I went for butter.)

You don't want to cook it too fast or on too high of a temperature or the eggs will set up.

The recipe called for 1 small can of crushed pineapple. I didn't drain mine...and regarding the size of the can...I do not remember what a small can was back in the 1970's and 80's...so I used 1 cup of crushed pineapple.

Just keep cooking and keep stirring until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Stir in the coconut after the icing looks like this.

While the icing is still warm, spreadit on each yummy cake layer and the rest on top!

Be sure to keep it loosely covered or in a cake saver.

My grandmother would spread it all along the sidesof her 7Up Cake,but I thought it looked pretty with it all the pineapple and coconut icing piled on top. What do you think?

Yummy!! The cake is moist and crumbly, with a fresh lemony-pineapple flavor. And the icing...so gooey and sweet.

Sign up for ourBuy This Cook That Newsletterfor new content. Follow us onFacebook,Pinterest,TwitterandInstagramfor our latest + greatest ideas!

📖 Recipe