Amazing Chocolate Mayo Cake and Fudge Icing

So Proud

I was having a bad day and making this chocolate cake really cheered my spirits. This cake tastes absolutely fantastic and is one of the best things I have ever made.  I also surprised myself as it was the first chocolate cake I ever made and what made it super special was because I made it for my partner to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary.  He loved the gesture and gave this cake a very high score in fact he gave it as much as the Ghana cake which was a huge compliament. :) Go Saffy! Go Saffy!

Weird Ingredients:

Sam Stern simply called this cake the 'Amazing Chocolate Cake' but I thought this was a little big headed until I saw the ingredients.  He used Hellmann's mayonnaise as his main binding ingredient! And the end results definately confirmed it's amazingness! Trust me the mayonnaise is a brilliant idea and you barely taste it. I love food with a twist.

Decorating Cakes

I brought some flower sugar decorations to make it all pretty but my partner brought me all this decoration equipment and cake decorating stuff for my birthday, so I am going to try and be more creative and even buy cake mixes just to practise the decorations etc.  I only used a few simple decorations.  Avoid using so many hard sugar decorations because they are tough to eat and I wanted to make it look elegant though it tastes so damn comforting. 

This recipe was taken  from Sam Stern's Student Cookbook (Walker Books, 2009)

Ingredients for cake:

275g/ 10oz white self - raising flour, 1 1/2 tsps baking powder, 225g/ 8oz sugar, 200g/ 7oz Hellmann's mayo, 225ml boiling water, 4 tbsps cocoa powder, 1tsp vanilla extract

Method for cake:

1. Sift flour, baking powder and sugar into the bowl.
2. Beat in the mayo with a wooden spoon for a lumpy mix.
3. Pour in a separate bowl boiling water, cocoa and vanilla extract then stir to dissolve.
4. Beat into the main mix until the whole thing is soft and creamy.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ Gas mark 4.
6. Tip the mix into the tin and bake for 40 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.

Icing Ingredients:

275g/ 10oz icing sugar, 25g/ 1oz cocoa powder, 110g/ 4oz butter, 3-4 tbsps water

Method:

1. Sift sugar and cocoa together.
2. Gently heat the butter and water without boiling.
3. Beat gradually into the sugar till smooth and not runny.
4. Wait until the cake is cool before pouring on the icing and decorating.

Tip

It is okay to leave the icing for a little (roughly 15 - 20 minutes) and stir occasionally once it has been made. If the cake is slightly warm the icing will be a little goey, the fudgyness and moistness just helps to make it all the more perfect.