50 Recipes, #26: Chocolate mayonnaise cake

[nonelvis]

That's right: chocolate cake made with mayonnaise.

I saw this recipe in the March/April 2009 Cook's Illustrated, and had heard about recipes like this before, but it wasn't until violetisblue made it (and I had a ton of duck egg mayonnaise to use up) that I decided to try it for myself.

This is just about the easiest chocolate cake I've ever made, second only to the standard Moosewood vegan chocolate cake recipe I've made so many times. If you can't put this together in 15 minutes, you're doing it wrong. The texture is simultaneously light and moist, and the hint of olive oil flavor (thank goodness I made the duck egg mayo with a 2:1 vegetable oil/olive oil ratio) actually worked surprisingly well with the cake.

columbina is still afraid of it. He'd better get over it quickly, though, because I really should not be responsible for eating an entire cake (even if it's only a single layer) all by myself.

Comments

[kalleah.livejournal.com]

I have made this before, and yes, yes, it is easy and delicious.

[nonelvis]

Mayonnaise in a cake sounds completely insane, but I made that mayo by hand, and I know exactly what went into it: a duck egg yolk, a little lemon juice, salt, and oil. Really, not that different from what I'd have put in a cake anyway. I'd totally make this again.

[platypus]

I'm more baffled by the cup of hot coffee.

[nonelvis]

The coffee serves two purposes:

1) allowing the cocoa to "bloom," thereby enhancing its flavor, while simultaneously melting the chocolate bits; and
2) complementing the chocolate flavor in general.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

And after half my flist turned up their noses the second they read the word "mayonnaise," I am vindicated! :-D When I try their olive oil orange cake I will post about that too.

[nonelvis]

Sure, a mayo cake sounds freaky, but like I said above: I know exactly what went into my mayo, and have made plenty of cakes with the same source ingredients.

The olive oil orange cake sounded good too, so do let me know how that turns out!

[haineux.livejournal.com]

He's from Louisianna and afraid of mayonnaise?

I know him well enough that I should not make a joke about Miracle Whip.

But I could.

But I won't.

[nonelvis]

It's not that he's afraid of mayonnaise so much as that he believes it has no business in a cake.

I'm pretty sure that like me, he thinks Miracle Whip is foul. Which is a good thing, because disagreeing on that kind of point is the sort of thing that makes or breaks a marriage.

[xeney.livejournal.com]

Mayonnaise cake was a staple when I was a kid! I am surprised that it is causing so much shock and horror.

Can you think of any reason this might not work with cupcakes? I am encouraged by the fact that the recipe says to dust with confectioner's sugar rather than frosting -- I have a kid who hates frosting and I'm trying to figure out what to do for her birthday. Last year I did carrot cake but I like that with frosting. So it's either unfrosted cupcakes or a blackberry pie.

[nonelvis]

I think it would make lovely cupcakes -- the cake is light, but not so light that it will fall apart in cupcake form.

Not that there's anything wrong with blackberry pie, mind you ...