Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Rich and moist, this old favorite can be slimmed down by using reduced calorie mayonnaise, although the final result won't be quite as moist.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup cocoa, firmly packed
  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1-1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation:
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F, and grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans.
  2. In a small bowl, pour the boiling water over the cocoa, and stir until smooth. Set aside.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  4. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the mayonnaise and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and cocoa mixture, beating until incorporated.
  5. With mixer at low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, beating just until batter is combined.
  6. Pour batter into prepared pans, and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Note: When putting together your ingredients for this cake, make sure you're using mayonnaise and not salad dressing like Miracle Whip. I know, I know, but growing up, my whole family referred to Miracle Whip as mayonnaise, and surely we weren't the only unenlightened folks in the world.

Cake Photo Credit: A Texas Cooking reader prepared this cake for his niece's birthday party, which we present photographed on this page. Instead of making the two-layer cake, he poured the batter into the special single layer pan with the Minnie Mouse shape.

Ready in: 1 Hr

Recipe editor Patricia Mitchell

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