Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Cola Frosting

Last Thursday was my mom's birthday. She wanted me to make her a chocolate cake, so I found a recipe of chocolate cake with mayo and a cola chocolate frosting. Even though it sounds weird, it tasted very good even though it had a strong chocolate flavor, there was no hint of it having mayo and it added moisture to the cake.It's great for days when there's no milk and eggs at home, because the mayonnaise substitutes them. This was the first time I did a double layer cake, so it wasn't perfect, but I think that for a first time I did pretty good. Again, when dealing with a chocolate frosting I had problems because of the heat, I actually had to stop frosting it and put it in the fridge because the frosting was slowly melting. The recipe doesn't have walnuts but I added about 1 1/2 cups chopped in the middle of the cake and on top because my mom loves adding nuts to EVERY dessert she makes. I got the recipe from The Baking Sheet from Autumn 2005, a newsletter from from King Arthurs Flour me and my mom used to receive.



Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Cola Frosting
Makes: two 8 inches round cakes

2c all-purpose flour
1c granulated sugar
1/2c brown sugar
1/3c unsweetened cocoa
2tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1/2tsp espresso powder
1c water
2tsp vanilla extract
1c mayonnaise
1c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round pans. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Pour in the water, vanilla and mayo, and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, stopping once to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the pans.

Cola Frosting
Makes: 4 cups

1/2c (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3c unsweetened cocoa
1/2c cola beverage
6c confectioners' sugar

In a small saucepan, bring the butter, salt, cocoa, and cola to a boil. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar. Beat on low speed to incorporate the sugar and to cool the mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then gradually add more sugar. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, beat until the frosting is a soft, spreadable consistency. It will continue to firm up as you work with it (unless you live in a humid place where it will melt), so keep the unused portion covered with a damp towel.