EASY MAY DAY MAYPOLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

I love May Day with its Maypole, Morris Dancing, and floral traditions. My school always celebrated May Day with a brightly colored Maypole and dancing. Here I am many many years later, and I still love everything about May Day.

I've posted Retro Recipes for Queen of the May Chocolate Cake and Maypole Sundaes, but this year I thought I'd add an easy recipe for a chocolate maypole cake that was posted by the Cedarwood Waldorf School. So happy to see that May Day celebrations are still going strong with maypole dances and crowning of the Queen of the May. 

So to mark the celebration in honor of Flora, the goddess of Flowers, here's an easy recipe for May Day Maypole Chocolate Cake. FYI: The maypole is a tall wooden pole erected with long colored ribbons hanging from the top and decorated with greenery and flowers. Dancers skip around the pole, weaving the ribbons into a spiral or elaborate pattern that is briefly seen before disappearing as the dance is reversed. 

This is a very quick and simple chocolate cake! If you want a layered cake, make two and double the amount of frosting. To decorate, you will need a chopstick (or a similar length of a thin twig) and thin ribbons or yarn (in rainbow colors, or whatever you have on hand). You can also decorate with fresh flowers (daisies, dandelions, violets, violas, etc). 

EASY MAYDAY MAYPOLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease and flour an 8 x 8 inch cake pan (round, if you have one). 

Sift and whisk together dry ingredients into a large bowl: 

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour 

1 cup sugar 

6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa 

1 tsp baking soda 

1/8  tsp sea salt 

Combine and add: 

1 cup cold water 

¼ cup vegetable oil 

1 Tbsp white vinegar 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

Stir ingredients until smooth. Scrape batter into the greased pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Set the cake aside to cool completely. 

 

Once your cake is cooled, frost the top. If you are making a double layer cake, also frost between layers. Make your favorite frosting or try one of these: 

Whipped Cream Frosting: 

Whisk together until desired thickness: 

1 cup of heavy whipping cream 

2 tbsp powdered sugar 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

Butter Frosting: 

Whisk together until thick and smooth. 

6 Tbsp butter, room temperature 

1 cup powdered sugar optional: 6 tbsp. cocoa 

If frosting is too thick: 2 to 3 tbsp heavy cream 

To make your May Pole decoration: 

Measure the distance from the center of the cake to the edge. 

Using the measurement and adding a bit extra for tying on both ends, cut 6-8 strands of yarn or ribbons. Tie the ribbons one at a time to the top of the pole, or use a tack to secure them at the top. Tie a toothpick to the end of each ribbon. 

Place the chopstick firmly into the center of the cake and evenly place the toothpicks around the edge of the cake. 

Decorate with fresh flowers.