Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
This chocolate mayonnaise cake has a moist, delicate crumb and a big chocolate flavor thanks to Dutched cocoa powder and my secret ingredient, mayonnaise! Makes three 8"x2" cake layers.
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 770kcal
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.
Video
Notes
Mayonnaise: I use Best Foods (also sold as Hellmann's), but you can replace it with other mayos. Most mayo has salt in it, so there's no need to adjust the salt. Mayonnaise is made with eggs, so this cake is not egg free.
Cocoa powder: This recipe is made with Dutched cocoa powder. If you only have natural cocoa powder, reduce the baking powder to 1 ¼ teaspoons and increase the baking soda to 2 ¾ teaspoons.
Cake flour: You can use a cake flour substitute if you need to. The texture will just be slightly different.
Cupcakes: This recipe makes about 36 cupcakes.
Carving: This recipe works great for carving sculpted cakes! I use the same recipe for wedding and sculpted cakes. I always bake them, de-pan them, wrap them in plastic wrap, and then give them a short chill in the freezer before carving. Chilled cakes make carving or stacking SO much easier!
Storage: Wrap unfrosted layers in plastic wrap to prevent drying out and keep them at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Don't refrigerate unfrosted cake because it dries it out. Once frosted, the cake keeps for up to a week in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer.
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.
Nutrition: Calculated for 1 of 24 slices of the three-layer cake, including the chocolate buttercream.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 770kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 351mg | Potassium: 221mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 1425IU | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 2mg
