Red White and Blue - 2 ingredient Cake

I hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend!  I did and it will take a little bit of time to recap all of the fun stuff I did here in New England.  There was SO MUCH eating, but it is a new day (new week!) so I started off my week with a 5:15 Boot Camp this morning and a healthy lunch packed.  While I sort out my holiday weekend post,  I wanted to share a fun and EASY recipe I made this weekend for a cookout.  My festive and "lighter" Red, White, and Blue Cake.  With just two ingredients in the cake, and only four ingredients in the icing, it could not be easier!

I am all about using fresh natural ingredients to cook and bake with... and I usually turn my nose at anything that comes in a box.   But sometimes you are short on time (and not the best baker) so a box of cake mix is just going to have to cut it. 

 This weekend there were lots of holiday parties but not a lot of time to prep for them.  So I decided to fall back to this "recipe" I had heard about online.  Apparently it is a weight watchers recipe for some sort of a diet cake and sounds too simple to be true.

You take one box of cake mix, and one can of diet soda.  Stir to combine, and bake according to the directions on the box.  BAM I just blew your mind, right?  I was skeptical at first.  Very skeptical.  No eggs, no oil, just mix and a can of diet soda?  

Well, let me tell you.  I combined a box of white cake mix with a can of diet 7 up, and the results?  A super moist fluffy cake.  Everyone loved it and could not believe the ingredient list.   

When you are mixing your batter, note that the batter will be very lumpy and that is okay- - do not over mix and leave it sort of clumpy and the cake will still cook perfectly.  Also, when  reading the box for cooking time, choose the most conservative time, and maybe check on the cake a few minutes before your timer goes off. 

To keep the cake on the lighter side, I made an icing instead of a heavy frosting, and topped the cake with lots of fresh fruit.  Blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries on my white cake with white icing made for the perfect Red White and Blue Cake.

For the icing, combine 1.5 cups of powdered sugar with 1 tbs of vanilla extract and 3 tbs of milk (you can add more of less milk to make your icing thicker or runnier).  After I added the icing and the fruit, I zested half a lemon over the top of the cake to give the cake a pop of yellow and add a clean lemony zing.  

So there you have it, a cake and frosting with no oil, eggs, or butter.  Perfect for the holiday and your next summer BBQ.  Insanely easy, without all the oil eggs and butter, and moist and fluffy.