Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

This chocolate mayonnaise cake recipe is super easy, quick, moist, and delicious. Step-by-step photos teach you how to bake this cake!

When I made this cake I took it to a group of friends and they all gushed over how delicious this cake was. I then asked them if they could guess the secret ingredient. No one guessed right, when I told them it was mayonnaise I got some grossed-out looks. But if you think about it mayo is mostly egg and oil, two of the main cake ingredients.

Trust me your friends and family will love this secret ingredient chocolate cake.

Ingredients

For this chocolate mayonnaise cake you will need:

• Granulated Sugar/ Caster Sugar. Sugar sweetens and helps build the cake's structure.
• Light Brown Sugar. Adding some brown sugar helps moisten the cake and adds a very slight warmth from the molasses flavor.
• All-Purpose/ Plain Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly.
• Dutch Process Cocoa Powder. I use Bensdorp Dutch Cocoa Powder or Rodelle Dutch Cocoa Powder. Do not swap in natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Baking Soda. The baking soda needs to be activated by an acid and in this recipe that acid is the buttermilk and brown sugar.
• Salt. Salt helps all of the other ingredients' flavor profiles shine through.
• Baking Powder. This chemical leavening agent is already activated and will help the cake rise while baking.
• Large Eggs. Eggs give fat and structure to the cake. Your eggs should be at room temperature to evenly incorporate into the other ingredients.
• Mayonnaise. The star of the show. Mayonnaise is a delicious moisture bomb full of fat. Trust me this cake is delicious and this secret ingredient takes all of the credit. Make sure your mayo is at room temp.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Vanilla pairs beautifully with chocolate for a warm delicious cake flavor.
• Buttermilk. The buttermilk helps moisten the cake batter and create soft, tender cake layers. This liquid ingredient should be at room temperature.
• Hot Coffee. You may be skeptical but trust me adding coffee only enhances the chocolate flavor it does not make the cake taste like coffee.

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease two 8-inch round pans. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer or large bowl with a whisk combine the eggs, vanilla, mayonnaise, and buttermilk mix until fully combined.

Place a large fine mesh sieve on top and add all of the dry ingredients. Sift into the wet ingredients then use a spatula to fold in to combine. Sifting the flour mixture helps ensure a smooth cake batter.

Once just combined add the hot coffee and mix carefully not to splash yourself. The cake batter will be very thin. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean/ only moist crumbs, no wet batter. Set cakes on a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling prepare chocolate frosting. When cakes are fully cooled begin frosting.

Add about 1 heaping cup of frosting to the center and use an angled spatula to spread it into an even layer, bend down to eye level with the cake to make sure the frosting is in an even layer.

Add the second cake layer bottom side up, the bottom side of the cake is generally straighter than the top so this helps create an even top of the cake.

Using a straight icing spatula press and gently spread chunks of frosting on the side, about 8 times, then you can evenly spread the frosting together creating a crumb-free coat of frosting.

For the top layer use the back of a spoon to swirl the frosting and add sprinkles if desired. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature, if you live in a warm environment you might want to store the cake in the refrigerator. 

Other frosting ideas to try are:

• Peanut Butter Frosting
• Chocolate Buttercream
• Vanilla Buttercream
• Oreo Frosting
• Cream Cheese Frosting

How to freeze

You can freeze the cake layers unfrosted by following these steps:

Let the chocolate cake layers cool completely. Once cooled wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap the cake in a second layer. Two layers of plastic wrap helps prevent any freezer burn.

Store the cakes on a flat surface for the first few hours of freezing, this initial time ensures the cakes freeze in the proper shape. After frozen feel free to store the cakes on top of each other or on their side.

Take the cake layers out of the freezer and place on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours. The cake will thaw a lot quicker than you think.

You can also freeze the frosted cake by following these steps:

Frost the cake then place it in the freezer to flash freeze for one hour. After one hour wrap it in plastic wrap tightly, twice, to help prevent freezer burn.

Take the cake out of the freezer and place it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. You can do the same process with slices of cake too!

More Chocolate Recipes

• Mascarpone Chocolate Toffee Bars
• Boozy Chocolate Tart
• Chocolate Bread
• Chocolate Hot Cross Buns
• Chocolate Pudding Pie
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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