Todd-o asked for a mayonnaise cake for his birthday. I screwed up at least two before I got it right. As you can see, I don’t have much space for the baking of goods and that’s probably for the best since I’m obviously not a graceful baker. Can you imagine a whole kitchen of this?

Yes. That’s a styrofoam Eegee’s cup. Yes. It’s likely full of high fructose corn syrup. What would you expect from a blog post titled “Mayonnaise Cake”? Can I get back to how I can’t stop thinking about this cake now?

I love this cake because even my screw-ups were pretty good. They were moist and appropriately Midwestern. Also, there are no raw eggs so the kids can lick the bowl and mixers and scraper and counter top.

Try it for yourself, then invite me over.

INGREDIENTS
2 c flour (I used cake flour. Ever used it? Seems worth it to me.)
1 c sugar
2 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
1 c water
1 c mayonnaise
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 c of chocolate chips (multipe-ly optional)
1/4 c nuts (For nut lovers. Personally I pass on nuts.)

DIRECTIONS
* Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl.
* Add the water and beat 1 minute.
* Add the mayonnaise and beat 1 minute.
* Add the vanilla and beat 1 minute.
(Or just throw it all together and beat it for 3 minutes. I won’t judge. You can stir in chocolate chips at this point if you’d like.)
* Pour into a greased and floured 13 x 9 inch square pan. Instead of flour, which is just plain gross, you can use a portion of the dry ingredients you’ve set aside. That makes the edges of the cake taste less flour-y.
* Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Do you smell popcorn? I did and that’s totally weird.
* Sprinkle with chopped nuts and chocolate bits in lieu of frosting. The chips heat up and are spreadable.