Mayonnaise Cake

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake is the easiest, most moist, and flavorful chocolate cake to make! Thanks to depression-era baking creativity, it’s made without the need for fresh eggs, milk, or butter!

Mayonnaise Cake is a moist and delicious chocolate cake, made with mayo (instead of eggs and oil or butter). In fact, all of the ingredients to make this easy chocolate cake are shelf-stable!

I’m often intrigued by old-fashioned baking recipes, particularly those that were created during the great depression. Ingredients like sugar, eggs, butter, and milk were very expensive at that time, or difficult to get, so home cooks got creative with their baking recipes, and came up with some amazing outcomes!

This cake doesn’t taste at all like mayonnaise. Instead, it has an amazingly rich chocolate flavor, with a tender, moist crumb. You can frost your cake with chocolate buttercream, or enjoy it with a simple dusting of powdered sugar.

If you enjoy old-fashioned, vintage recipes, you’ll enjoy making this Hot Milk Cake, Coca-Cola Cake, Apple Cinnamon Cake, and sweet Oatmeal Pie too.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

1. One Bowl – Grab a big bowl and a whisk, all of these ingredients are mixed together in one bowl, no mixer needed!
2. Traditional Recipe – I haven’t made any changes to this already perfect classic recipe. I’m sharing it as-is, with some tips and tricks to ensure that you make the best cake, and this tradition is carried on.
3. Mayo makes an amazing cake! Don’t be afraid of adding mayonnaise to your cake. It adds extra moisture, rich flavor, and helps to create a light and tender crumb.

Ingredients In Mayonnaise Cake

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Cocoa Powder: Of course, we need cocoa powder to make a chocolate cake! Use your favorite unsweetened baking cocoa powder for this recipe.
• Hot Coffee: Coffee elevates the flavor of chocolate, and using hot coffee helps to dissolve the cocoa powder. You can also use hot water or brewed earl gray tea if you prefer. Just be sure that it’s hot!
• Sugar: Just one cup of granulated sugar gives this cake the perfect amount of sweetness.
• Baking Soda: There are no eggs in this cake, so baking soda does the work of helping it to rise.
• Salt: A bit of salt in sweet recipes makes everything taste better.
• Vanilla Extract: A must for almost all cake recipes! Some vintage recipes used a teaspoon of bourbon instead, so you can try that if you like.
• Flour: Regular all-purpose flour brings the cake batter together.
• Chocolate Buttercream: This is totally optional, but I suggest you try my homemade buttercream to give this cake the perfect finish!

How To Make Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Prepare a 9×13-inch pan by lightly greasing it. You can also dust the pan with cocoa powder to make the cake easy to release. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C while you mix the mayonnaise cake batter.

1. Dissolve the Cocoa Powder by mixing it together with the hot coffee.
2. Add Mayo: To the same bowl, add the mayonnaise, sugar, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
3. Stir in the Flour: Whisk only until combined.

1. Pour the batter into the pan, and spread it out into the corners using a spatula.
2. Bake: Bake in the center of a preheated 350°F/180°C oven for 25-30 minutes, or until you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and it comes out mostly clean.

Recipe Tips

• Avoid Overmixing. Mixing the wet ingredients together well first, then incorporating the flour will give your cake the best texture. Stirring the flour too much will develop more gluten, making the cake tough.
• Measure Correctly. Too much flour can cause this cake to be dry. Be sure that you’re spooning the flour into the measuring cup rather than scooping it down into the container. More measuring tips can be found here!
• Try it in a Bundt Pan. Most cakes designed to be baked in a 9×13-inch pan can also be baked in a standard Bundt Pan! Be sure to grease and dust the bundt so that the cake releases easily, and note that you may need to bake it for a few extra minutes.
• Let the Cake Cool. This cake will be very moist and delicate while it’s warm. Allow it to cool in the pan completely before adding toppings or slicing it.
• Add Frosting. You have options when it comes to finishing this cake. Go super simple, and dust the top with powdered sugar, or add a rich layer of my easy chocolate frosting. If you want to try something different, this white chocolate buttercream would also be delicious!

Storing Tips

Store this cake covered at room temperature for up to three days. If you frost it with buttercream, store it in the fridge.

What To Serve With Mayonnaise Cake

This cake makes the perfect dessert. It doesn’t matter what you’re serving for dinner, chocolate cake is going to be the perfect finish!

If you’re having guests, try my recipes for Beef Tenderloin Roast or Honey Baked Ham. Both of these main dishes are perfect for holidays too.

FAQs

Magic Mayonnaise Cake! This will be your new favorite chocolate cake recipe because it’s so completely simple to make. Be sure to Pin this recipe, and keep these old-fashioned recipes relevant and accessible to everyone.