I know mayonnaise is a polarizing ingredient. And it's probably even more polarizing to suggest you add mayonnaise to your chocolate cake. But trust me! If you love mayonnaise, read on. And if you hate mayonnaise? Read!
What is mayonnaise?
We're all familiar with mayonnaise—that white, creamy condiment found in everything from potato salad to tuna salad to salad dressings. But unless you've made it from scratch, you might not realize that mayonnaise is simply an emulsion of eggs and oil, often seasoned with salt, lemon juice., or vinegar, and with added lecithin, an emulsifier that helps prevent emulsion separation. An emulsion brings together two liquids that normally don't want to mix by mixing them so thoroughly that the fat particles break up into tiny droplets suspended in the liquid that can't get back together.
Do I really need to use mayonnaise on my cake?
Mayonnaise tarts have been around for a long time, gaining popularity in the late 1930s after Best Foods published a recipe in their cookbook. Cakes and cookies with personality. And while using it in desserts may seem like a clever mayo marketing ploy, mayo is actually a great baking ingredient.
Because mayonnaise is little more than eggs and oil—two common baking ingredients—using it in a sweet cake isn't as strange as it might seem at first. Mayonnaise provides the protein, fat, and moisture essential to a cake's texture and flavor, and it also effectively coats the flour in the cake batter, which limits gluten development, resulting in a cake with a moist, crumbly, cake-like texture. best of the box mix. . (Sound familiar? It's the same reason reverse cream cakes (they're extra bland.) Plus, because mayonnaise is mostly oil, desserts made with it (instead of butter) stay fresh and moist for days and days because of the higher fat content of the oil. .
Photography by Rick Holbrook, food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
Have I convinced you? Bake this!
If you're ready to try mayonnaise on a cake, start with this new recipe Chocolate mayonnaise cake. There's no butter to soften, no eggs to separate, no mixer required, takes less than an hour to make, including baking, and only requires nine ingredients. And no, if you're worried, it doesn't taste like mayonnaise at all. And it's not just how easy it is to make: with its velvety crumb and deeply chocolatey flavor (plus (how easy it is), this could become your new favorite chocolate cake.
Lately, I've been serving it with nothing more than a dusting of confectioners' sugar, a dollop of whipped cream, and whatever summer berries I have. But add a generous libel of our own Super Easy Chocolate Frosting and you have a party-ready cake with a secret that no one will guess.
The most surprising way to bake with mayonnaise: This is perfect for summer Tomato pie with parmesan and basil and these green ones Green Goddess Herb Cookies.
Cover picture (Chocolate mayonnaise cake) by Rick Holbrook, food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
