Why Put Mayo In Chocolate Cake?
At first glance, the thought of a chocolate cake with mayo in it may sound revolting. My kids had the same reaction at first, until they tried it. If you've seen how mayo is made or even made some yourself (it's sometimes called aioli to be fancy) you'll know the main ingredients are egg yolks and oil along with other flavorings.
You'll notice the recipe for this Chocolate Mayo Cake is missing eggs and oil in the ingredient list: hence the use of mayo. The mayo adds a richness and moistness to the cake, without making your cake taste like mayo. It also makes the cake so simple to make!
Updates to the Original Chocolate Mayo Cake
Here are the couple changes I made to the original recipe:
- Increased the cocoa powder from ⅓ to ⅔ cup to kick up the chocolate flavor
- Increased the white sugar from ½ to ¾ cup to balance out the extra cocoa powder
- Swapped out water for coffee. This does NOT make the cake taste like coffee! It just intensifies and highlights the chocolate flavor. Cooled or room temperature coffee leftover from the morning's brew is fine.
- Added ½ teaspoon of salt. I think salt is such an important addition to baked goods. It enhances all the flavors of what you're making.
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
You only need a large mixing bowl and a spoon to make this Chocolate Mayo Cake. I like to combine all the dry ingredients first, then add the coffee, mayo & vanilla. Mix everything until well combined, but do not overbeat.
Place the batter in a greased Bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn the cake out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Minute Fudge Frosting
I always use my Grandma Pauline's recipe for Minute Fudge Frosting to top this cake with. This frosting needs time to thicken up after it's made so I like to start it as soon as I take the cake out of the oven.
To make the frosting, combine all the frosting ingredients besides the vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil the frosting for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. At this point the frosting will be very runny and very little would stick to the cake if poured on it right away.
After 20-30 minutes the frosting will still be thin enough to pour over the cake, but thick enough to stick to the cake without it all running off. To catch any frosting that doesn't stick, I like to place the cake on a wire rack on a baking sheet to catch the excess. You can always scoop up the fallen frosting and place it back on the cake. Or you can think of it as your reward. Your secret is safe with me.
Can I Use a Different Pan?
If you are wanting a different shaped cake besides the Bundt or tube pan, this recipe should easily adapt to a 9x13 or 2 - 8 or 9 inch round pans. The Spruce Eats has a great post about Cake Baking Times by Pan Size.
Other popular dessert recipes:
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Chocolate Mayo Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Mayo Cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups mayo
- 1 ½ cups brewed coffee cooled
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- 2 ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
Minute Fudge Frosting
- 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate chopped
- 1 cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Chocolate Mayo Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly grease Bundt pan with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients.
- Add mayo, coffee and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour cake batter into greased Bundt pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto wire rack and cool completely.
Minute Fudge Frosting
- While the cake is cooling, combine baking chocolate, sugar, milk, shortening and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
- Boil frosting for one minute, then remove from heat.
- Add vanilla and mix well. Allow frosting to thicken enough to pour over cake (20-30 minutes). Frosting should pour nicely over cake, but be thick enough where it doesn't all run off.
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