Mayonnaise Cake

Mayonnaise Cake ( Vegetarian)

Recipe Source : Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book “The Cake Bible”

It is simply amazing how people come up with different recipes. I, in my wildest dreams, would not have imagined incorporating mayonnaise into a cake. Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book “The Cake Bible” is a veritable treasure chest of recipes. It is definitely my go to book in case of “something different”.

As the author explains in her book this recipe was invented by the wife of a mayonnaise salesman who wanted to help her husband expand his work. Simply ingenious!! The cake does not have any butter or oil or egg. Since the original recipe is made with egg mayonnaise the egg and oil requirement is catered for. Mayonnaise is an emulsification of eggs and large amounts of oil and this adds to the moistness in the cake.

 I, however, have used eggless mayonnaise making this a completely vegetarian cake. The cake has turned out so moist that it is impossible to make a clean cut in the cake. It is dark brown in colour, crumbly in texture and has an amazing balance of sweet and salty. The amount of sugar used is less when you compare it to the amount of flour and cocoa powder being used. Moreover the mayonnaise has the tartness of vinegar and additional salt is added to the batter. It is not an extremely sweet cake. It has its own unique flavor that just stays in your mouth tempting you to take one more bite, and then another and another!!!

Ingredients

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp vanilla essence

¾ cup mayonnaise

2 cups cake flour

1 cup castor sugar

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

First of all don’t be put off by the mention of cake flour. I, too, don’t have access to cake flour. However it is easy to create a substitute. For every cup of all purpose flour, take out 2 tbsp of the flour and replace with 2 tbsp of cornstarch. So, for this recipe, you will take pout 4 tbsp of all purpose flour and add 4 tbsp of cornstarch.

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

Add the boiling water to the cocoa powder. Whisk well to ensure that no lumps remain. Keep aside to bring it to room temperature. Whisk in the mayonnaise and vanilla essence.

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the cocoa mixture. Beat for 1 minute till all the ingredients are mixed properly. Pour the batter into a greased cake tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Once done the cake will start shrinking from the sides. 

Cool. Cut. Eat. And then start making another one!!