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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake: 2 Easy Recipes

The other day Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations posted about the birth of Richard Hellman (Hellman's Mayonnaise) in 1876. The exact date coincided with her own birthday. Of course her birthday was many, many years later. Since there is no holiday dedicated to Mayonnaise, she and I think there should be. Where would tuna fish be without mayonnaise; where would sandwiches be? So better late than never, let's celebrate Mayonnaise Day. Be sure and check out the history of Mayonnaise, the life of Hellman, and a lot more info about mayonnaise at Months of Edible Celebrations.

Since it was Louise's birthday, she decided to make a Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. I've made chocolate mayonnaise cake before, and you'd be surprised how many recipes there are. Seems like everyone's Aunt Sadie had a recipe. It shouldn't be a surprise to you that mayonnaise was used often in past generations. Remember mayonnaise in jello molds? That used to be a staple at special occasions all over the U.S. If you don't remember, be glad!

Since I try to post easy recipes here, I have two. The first is slightly harder since it means making a layer cake (2 layers) and icing the cake. That's not really difficult--just takes a bit more time--and sometimes layer cakes aren't even, so you need to do a bit of shaping. The second recipe is for a Chocolate Mayonnaise Bundt Cake. You just mix all the ingredients together and pour into the bundt pan and bake. Easy peasy. And delicious.

As I said there are many recipes for Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. I've chosen to post Louise's recipe with her photos. Thanks, Louise, for your permission. Louise collects cookbooks, and this recipe is from That amazing ingredient: mayonnaise! Talk about your odd cookbook!

Mayonnaise Cakes are really moist, so it's hard to go wrong on either of these recipes.



Here's Louise's finished Birthday Cake:


Want to try a variation of the above recipe? Use Miracle Whip instead of Mayonnaise. Totally different taste. Most people are particular when it comes to the choice between Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. I still think it's worth trying Miracle Whip in this chocolate cake recipe... or for that matter, in the bundt cake recipe below. Word to the wise: don't taste the batter before it's baked. It will seem a bit odd, but the final results will be delicious.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Bundt Cake
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
6 tablespoons dark cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla (or whatever you have)
1 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
1 egg, whipped
1 cup lukewarm water
1 cup chocolate chips or broken dark chocolate 70% or higher cacao
powdered sugar

Directions:
Blend dry ingredients.
Mix in vanilla, mayonnaise, egg and water-- just enough to get all ingredients blended.
Fold in chocolate chips (broken up chocolate)
Pour into greased Bundt pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool cake.
Dust with powdered sugar.

Photos: Months of Edible Celebrations

7 comments:

AnnmarieKostyk said...

I completely forgot about the mayonnaise cake! When I was little, my grandmother used to make it with Miracle Whip and my mom with Hellman's Mayo. They both were good, but did taste totally different. I'm a Trader Joe's Organic mayo girl. I wonder what taste sensation that will bring! Thanks once again!

Personalized Chocolate Gifts said...

I've never tasted a chocolate mayonnaise cake but I think it's delicious...hhhmm, I'm gonna try this one this weekend...wew!

SaSa's Kitchen said...

Oh my... i never thought of using mayonnaise in cake before. I must try this and let you know how I get one. Thanks.

SaSa's Kitchen said...

ah! i never thought to use mayonnaise in a cake before. I must try this and will let you know. Thanks.

cake recipes said...

Funny how I enjoyed baking cakes and yet I haven't tried mayonnaise cake yet! Well, I think this will be the perfect timing to try it. I really prefer my cake moist yet spongy at the same time. If you said mayonnaise cake are moist, then it'll probably become one of my favorites then! Can't wait to try this one, thanks for sharing by the way.

Anna said...

I love mayonnaise cake! I think I've tried one very similar to that and it was excellent. Next on the list is the one from the guys at "Baked". I believe it's still getting rave reviews on Epicurious.

Janet Rudolph said...

Anna, thanks for stopping by. Just checked your oatmeal chocolate chip bars. Wow! They look delicious!