You are going to love this rich and moist chocolate mayonnaise cake with simple chocolate frosting. It’s a perfect dessert for a small party or just because!
It will be love at first bite with this chocolate mayonnaise cake. The batter is easy to whip up and the results are moist and delicious.
It’s the perfect treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee and a friend or two!
Nothing says vintage goodness like a chocolate mayonnaise cake. It just begs you to take a bite.
I have been tempted to make a chocolate mayonnaise cake for quite some time. Mostly because I have been wanting to make a Portillo’s inspired chocolate cake.
However all of the recipes I found use a cake mix version of a mayonnaise cake and a couple of tubs of frosting.
Now I have been known to reach for a cake mix occasionally. I have some great doctored up cake mix recipes on the blog already.
But canned frosting?! That is where I draw the line.
Frosting is so easy to make yourself and so much more delicious when you do! So I was delighted to find a scratch made chocolate mayonnaise cake recipe on the Taste of Home website.
A quick read through the recipe and I knew I had a winner. The batter comes together in just a couple of minutes and with ingredients I always have on hand.
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This recipe is the perfect amount to make a one layer 9″ cake and enough chocolate frosting to top it.
I did make a couple of small adjustments to the recipe. The first was to replace the water with cooled brewed coffee.
Adding a touch of coffee to chocolate recipes does so much to help the flavor. It doesn’t taste like coffee, it just gives the chocolate a nice boost.
The second was reducing the baking powder just a smidge. The comments on the recipe suggested the amount called for was a bit much.
With the little extra acidity from the coffee, I was sure what I did add was going to be activated nicely. So I felt confident in using the smaller amount and still getting plenty of spring in the cake.
The frosting recipe gave me a bit of pause at first. Two tablespoons of butter?!
You know I am a more frosting is better kind of girl, so I was really tempted to double the recipe. In the end, I kept the small frosting recipe but you could double it if you want to frost the sides of the cake as well.
If you have never tried a chocolate mayonnaise cake, this seems like the perfect time to give it a go. If you have, this is your excuse to have it again!
Do you have any vintage dessert recipes you love? Maybe something your grandma used to make… I’d love to hear all about it!
You can always tell me you favorites in the comments or reach out to me on social media. I love to hear from you.
Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brewed coffee or water
Chocolate Frosting
- 2 Tablespoons butter softened
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons warm milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a round 9 inch cake pan or a square casserole dish.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together ¾ cup mayonnaise, 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until incorporated.
- In another bowl, whisk together 2 cups all purpose flour, ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1½ teaspoons baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt until combined and lump free.
- Mix half of the dry ingredients into the mayonnaise mixture. Then stir in the 1 cup brewed coffee. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Pour into prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched with your finger.
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes, the turn out onto a wire rack if desired. (This cake is also great cut and served from the baking dish.)
Small Batch Chocolate Frosting
- Beat the 2 Tablespoons butter until smooth.
- Add the 1½ cups powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 Tablespoons warm milk1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 pinch salt. Beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Spread over cooled cake and decorate with sprinkles if desired.
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YAY! Thank you so much!
One of these days I'm going to have to bite the bullet and try making a mayonnaise cake!!!
You definitely should!
Two things; I am from the Chicago area and Door County is like our playground. I had no idea Door County Coffee has franchised out, or whatever the word is. So this is huge.
Second, Portillo's (also based in Chicago) chocolate cake has mayo in it and if you just gave me that recipe, I may have to marry you.
Ha! You can order Door County coffee from anywhere now, but even better if you can get it straight from the source…. and I love Portillo's! It's a bit of a drive for me, but a friend once shipped me one of those chocolate cakes for my birthday!
OH my goodness, I forgot all about Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake! I'll have to see if I can find my old recipe and see how it compares to yours! I don't think I've made it since 19xx, never mind, I'm aging myself… we'll just say it's be a long long time! This is getting baked this week!
It is delicious!! Husband gave it his seal of approval also 🙂
I love using coffee in my chocolate baked goods. This cake looks insanely moist and yummy! Perfect with a cup of coffee.
It's been a long time since I've made a chocolate mayonnaise cake. This looks delicious! My husband loves blueberry coffee too.
This cake looks so moist and delicious! And how fun that you used mayonnaise in this recipe. Mmmm This cake wouldn't last 5 minutes in my house!
Taste of Home is a favorite magazine of mine so it's fun to see you make one of their recipes your own. And coffee and chocolate cake are a match made in heaven
I LOVE chocolate mayonnaise cake. My grandfather was making this before I was born, for over 50 years. It is so moist and one would never know it has mayo in it!
It's so funny, I was just thinking about trying a chocolate mayonnaise cake over the weekend. Looking at your pictures, I know I need to try it sooner rather than later–I can't believe how rich and chocolatey it is!