Food Network’s Kardea Brown Says Lemon-Lime Soda Cake Was the 1st Sweet She Made as a Young Cook

Every home (or professional) baker remembers their first creation and the sense of accomplishment that came with their final product. Food Network star Kardea Brown is no different.

Her first-ever cake was a recipe of her aunt’s and it’s as flavorful and effervescent as its name, Lemon-Lime Soda Cake.

The ‘Delicious Miss Brown’ star says this cake was the first she ever made as a young cook

The inspiration behind this cake, Brown says in the Food Network video (below) for this recipe, is her Aunt TC.

“Aunt TC is the talk of the town, OK?,” she began. “And she makes some of the best cake I’ve ever tried in my life. That’s the reason why this was the very first cake I ever learned how to bake. I was 18 years old, I called her, ‘Aunt TC, I want to learn how to make that cake.’ So she gave me the recipe.”

Brown recalled that her first time making this sweet cake “came out like cornbread instead of cake.” Fast-forward about a decade later, “I’ve perfected the cake and I think I even make it better than Aunt TC.”

Her Lemon-Lime Soda Cake comes together quickly

For Brown’s cake, have on hand room-temperature unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, large eggs, lemon extract, and lemon-lime soda.

For the cake’s glaze, confectioners’ sugar, milk, more lemon-lime soda, vanilla extract, and lemon extract are needed.

You’ll also need a “generously greased” fluted 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan and an electric mixer.

The butter and sugar are creamed, followed by the eggs (“I’m going to add them separately; it will incorporate better when you do that”). Lemon extract is added, as well as the lemon-lime soda: “The lemon-lime soda acts as a leavening agent, so not only does it make it soft; it helps the cake to rise,” she explained.

Brown now adds in the flour, “a little bit at a time,” and reminds home cooks to be sure to work it in and remove all traces of raw flour. Now the batter is poured into the Bundt pan: “You want to make sure [the batter] is nice and even, because if you don’t make sure it’s even, you’re going to have a lopsided cake.”

Bake in a 325-degree F oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. The glaze is prepared and poured over the cake, after making small holes in it with a skewer. Once the cake is removed from the pan, more glaze is spooned over it.

Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.

Reviewers gobbled up Kardea Brown’s bubbly cake

Along with its fun name, Brown’s cake is also clearly a lot of fun to eat, as home cooks shared on Food Network’s site.

“My family loved this cake! It was super moist and had lots of lemon flavor. I will definitely be making this one again!,” one reviewer wrote.

Another added that Brown’s dessert has become something of a habit in their household: “My husband has made this cake 6 times in less than 3 mos. That’s how deliciously good it is.”