This chocolate mayonnaise cake is the first chocolate cake I ever developed, and it's been popular with cake decorators and my clients alike ever since. It's super moist, bakes up with a soft, tight crumb, and has a BIG chocolate flavor thanks to Dutched cocoa powder and my secret ingredient, mayonnaise. If you love the texture of my vanilla cake recipe, this is the chocolate version of that.
Quick Glance at the Recipe: Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
- Recipe Name: Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
- Why You'll Love It: Rich, moist, and sturdy enough to stack, carve, or cover in fondant.
- Time and Difficulty: 20 minutes prep + 30 to 40 minutes bake. Intermediate.
- Main Ingredients: Cake flour, Dutched cocoa powder, mayonnaise, butter, sugar, and eggs.
- Method: Bloom the cocoa in boiling water, then mix with the reverse mixing method and bake in three 8"x2" pans at 335º F.
- Texture and Flavor: Soft, tight crumb with a deep, dark chocolate flavor.
- Quick Tip: Let the cocoa and water cool until warm, not hot, before you add the mayo and eggs.
Jump to:
- Quick Glance at the Recipe: Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
- What Makes This Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake So Good⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review
- Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Ingredients
- How To Make Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Step-By-Step
- Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
- Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
- Cups of Batter Needed
- Cups of Frosting Needed
- Make This Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Your Own
- Common Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Problems To Avoid
- Final Thoughts
- Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake FAQs
- More Chocolate Cake Recipes To Try
- Ready To Master Cake Decorating?
- Leave Me A Review⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recipe
What Makes This Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake So Good
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I know mayonnaise sounds a bit odd in a cake, but if you think about it, mayo is just eggs and oil in fluffy form. Two things that go great in cake.
- Mayonnaise. It adds moisture and richness, and I updated my original recipe to use it because it gives the cake a better taste and texture.
- Dutched cocoa powder. It's smoother, darker, and more chocolatey than natural cocoa. That's where the deep, almost reddish color comes from.
- Boiling water. Whisking the cocoa into boiling water first gets it nice and smooth before it goes into the batter.
- The reverse mixing method. Mixing the butter into the dry ingredients first gives you that nice tight crumb that's still soft and moist.
- Butter AND mayo. The butter makes the cake stable enough for stacking and sculpted cakes, so I use this same recipe for wedding cakes and carved cakes.
I never put much thought into cocoa powder until I started testing chocolate cake recipes for my wedding cake clients. Everyone raved about the recipe on the back of the Hershey's can, but when I tried it, it tasted bitter to me and not at all what I was looking for. This is the cake I came up with instead. Looking for a quick one-bowl option? Try my easy chocolate cake.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review
My go-to chocolate cake recipe! Yummy and moist, but sturdy enough for stacking or carving!!
Catherine F.
Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Ingredients
I always weigh my ingredients with a digital kitchen scale because measuring in cups is not exact, and who wants to waste butter and vanilla at today's prices?
- Mayonnaise. I use Best Foods (it's called Hellmann's in some parts of the country). Go with a nice neutral mayonnaise. You can replace it with other mayos too. Most mayo has salt in it, so you don't need to adjust the salt. Mayo is made with eggs, so this cake is not egg free unless you're using an egg free mayo, and the recipe has whole eggs in it too.
- Dutched cocoa powder. I like Cacao Barry Extra Brute because it has a fantastic flavor and it's easy to find online. Here's my guide to Dutch processed cocoa powder if you're not sure what you have. Only have natural cocoa? Reduce the baking powder to 1 ¼ teaspoons and increase the baking soda to 2 ¾ teaspoons.
- Water. Boiling, to whisk with the cocoa powder.
- Cake flour. Gives this cake its soft, tight crumb. Bleached or unbleached both work. Don't have any? You can use my cake flour substitute. The texture will just be slightly different.
- Granulated sugar. For sweetness and moisture.
- Unsalted butter. At room temperature, for the cake and the buttercream. Forgot to set it out? Use my room temperature ingredient hacks.
- Eggs. Large, at room temperature.
- Baking powder and baking soda. You need both for the right rise.
- Vanilla extract and salt. In both the cake and the buttercream.
- Pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar. These make my chocolate buttercream light and creamy without cooking anything.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with quantities.
How To Make Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Step-By-Step
Before you start, preheat your oven to 335º F and prep three 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or your favorite pan release. Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature, and grab your stand mixer.
- Bring your water to a boil and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Let it cool until it's warm, not hot.
- Whisk in the mayonnaise, vanilla, and eggs to break up the eggs.
- Place your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add the butter in small chunks with the mixer on low and mix until it looks like coarse sand.
- Add half of the liquid and mix on medium for 2 minutes. This builds the cake's structure.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the rest of the liquid, scraping the bowl once or twice, then mix on medium for 30 more seconds.
PRO TIP: Don't skip the full 2 minutes of mixing. If you do, your cake could collapse.
- Divide the batter between your three pans.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the center is set and a toothpick comes out with a few sticky crumbs.
- Cool the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then flip them out onto a cooling rack and cover them in plastic wrap so they don't dry out.
PRO TIP: For carving or stacking, wrap the cooled layers in plastic wrap and give them a short chill in the freezer before carving. Chilled cakes are SO much easier to handle.
- Whip the egg whites and powdered sugar with the whisk attachment on high for 5 minutes.
- Melt 8 ounces of the butter and stir in the cocoa powder until smooth.
- Add the rest of the butter in small chunks and keep whipping until the buttercream is light, white, and creamy.
- Add the chocolate mixture, vanilla, and salt and whip until combined.
- Switch to the paddle and mix on low until the buttercream is smooth with no bubbles. This can take up to 20 minutes.
- Trim your cooled cakes with a serrated knife, then fill and frost with the chocolate buttercream using an offset spatula.
Want to really please the chocolate lover in your life? Swap the buttercream for dark chocolate ganache. New to layer cakes? Here's how to decorate a cake step by step.
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
This recipe makes three 8"x2" cake layers. Use the calculator below to adjust the batter for other pan sizes.
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
Select an option below to calculate how much batter or frosting you need. Adjust the servings slider on the recipe card to change the amounts the recipe makes.
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(based on 2" tall cake pan)
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Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Make This Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Your Own
- Cupcakes. This batter bakes up beautifully as cupcakes and makes about 36.
- Gluten free. I've made this cake gluten free successfully using Bob's Red Mill 1:1 flour.
- Dairy free. Replace the butter with Earth Balance and leave out the salt, otherwise it can taste really salty.
- Marble cake. Make a batch of this batter and a batch of vanilla batter and marble them together.
- Sculpted and tiered cakes. It's strong enough for a bottom tier (with supports) and can be covered in fondant. It's a soft cake, so chill it well before you handle it. Here's how to stack cakes.
- Doctored box mix. Not into baking from scratch? Try my chocolate WASC.
Common Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Problems To Avoid
- Sunken middle. If your cake sinks in the center, it wasn't baked all the way. Some ovens run cooler than others, so next time leave the oven closed until the 40 to 45 minute mark before you check it.
- Dry cake. It was baked too long. Start checking at 30 minutes and pull it when the toothpick has a few sticky crumbs.
- Bitter flavor. You have to use Dutched cocoa powder for this recipe. Natural cocoa tastes sharper.
- Cake too soft to handle. Give the wrapped layers a short chill in the freezer before you trim, carve, or stack.
Final Thoughts
This is the first chocolate cake recipe I ever developed, and it's still one of my favorites. People are always impressed with the flavor because it's so rich, and nobody ever guesses the secret is mayonnaise.
Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake FAQs
Can you taste the mayonnaise in chocolate mayonnaise cake?
No. Mayonnaise is just eggs and oil, so it adds moisture and richness, not mayo flavor.
Does it matter what kind of mayonnaise I use?
I use Best Foods, which is the same as Hellmann's, but you can replace it with other mayos. Most mayonnaise has salt in it, and you don't need to adjust the recipe for that.
Can I substitute the mayonnaise with sour cream, yogurt, or buttermilk?
No. Mayonnaise is eggs and oil, so it's not the same as yogurt or buttermilk, and the recipe may not turn out.
Can I use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour?
Cake flour gives the best result, but if you don't have any you can make a cake flour substitute with all-purpose flour. It's fine, the texture will just be slightly different.
How do I store chocolate mayonnaise cake?
Wrap unfrosted layers in plastic wrap to prevent drying out and keep them at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Never store plain, unfrosted cake in the fridge because it dries it out. Once the cake is frosted, it keeps for up to a week in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes To Try
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Leave Me A Review
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Recipe
Equipment
- 3 8" x 2" cake pans
- 1 Electric Stand Mixer with paddle and whisk attachments
- 1 Digital Kitchen Scale
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 oz Dutched cocoa powder
- 11 oz water
- 5 oz mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 19 oz cake flour
- 20 oz granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz unsalted butter room temperature
For the chocolate buttercream
- 8 oz pasteurized egg whites room temperature
- 32 oz powdered sugar
- 36 oz unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 oz cocoa powder
Instructions
- Before you begin: Preheat your oven to 335º F and prepare three 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or your preferred pan release. Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature.
For the cake
- Bring the water to a boil, then whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Let the mixture cool until it's warm, not hot.
- Add the mayonnaise, vanilla, and eggs to the cooled cocoa mixture and whisk to break up the eggs.
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Turn the mixer on low (setting 1 on a KitchenAid) and add the room temperature butter in small chunks. Mix on low until the mixture looks like coarse sand.
- Add half of the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium for 2 minutes. Don't skip this step or your cake could collapse.
- Turn the mixer back down to low and slowly add the rest of the liquids, stopping once or twice to scrape the bowl. Once combined, turn the mixer up to medium for another 30 seconds.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the center is set and a toothpick comes out with a few sticky crumbs. Start checking at 30 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, or until the pans are cool enough to touch, then flip them out onto a cooling rack. Cover with plastic wrap so they don't dry out and let them cool completely.
For the chocolate buttercream
- Place the egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine on low, then whip on high for 5 minutes.
- Set aside 8 oz of the butter and melt it in the microwave until JUST melted. Don't overheat it. Mix the melted butter with the cocoa powder until smooth.
- With the mixer running, add the remaining butter in small chunks and keep whipping until the buttercream is light, white, and creamy. Give it a taste. If it still tastes buttery, keep whipping.
- Add the chocolate mixture, vanilla, and salt and whip until combined, scraping the bowl if needed.
- Switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low until smooth and creamy with no bubbles. This can take up to 20 minutes.
To assemble
- Once the cakes are completely cool, trim them, then fill and frost with the chocolate buttercream.
AT says
I tried your red velvet, and it was absolutely amazing! Can I substitute the boiling water for coffee?
Liz Marek says
Yes you can! Just make sure the coffee is cool or warm, not hot.
Andrea Homan says
Hi Liz, thank you for sharing these amazing recipes! Your vanilla cake quickly became a highly requested birthday cake for my family. I’m going to make this chocolate cake at Christmas and prefer three layers (as in a couple of the pictures), but the recipe is for two layers. How do I correctly adjust the recipe?
Thank you in advance!
Elizabeth Marek says
You can adjust the recipe to make a 1.5 batch
sanja says
would i be able to do this for airplane mold
Liz Marek says
Yes, this should work in any kind of cake mold.
Amanda says
The video says oven temp of 335 for 30-40 mins and the recipe itself says 350 for 30 mins. Which is correct? Mine turned out slightly dry.
Liz Marek says
Good catch Amanda! The video is correct. Bake at 335º F for 30 to 40 minutes and start checking at 30. I've updated the recipe card so they match now.