My Mother's Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

The day may have been dark and gloomy; the cold, wet snow could be piled up to the windows, we couldn't go out, there were only 3 TV channels then. Ugh!

But then Mom would decide it was time to make a chocolate mayonnaise cake and the whole day was worth it.

This amazing cake was as dark as could be, and so chocolaty, but with a different kind of taste that made it just better than anything else. It was denser than most cake, but not really like brownies, really hard to describe, you must taste it to know.

Later Mom would frost it with her special ice cream frosting, but when it came out of the oven, it was cut while still steaming hot and spread with butter like a piece of bread. I didn't put butter on my bread, so I ate the hot cake plain also, but it was far from plain.

Oh, man oh man!

Thanks for the memories, Mom.

CHOCOLATE MAYONNAISE CAKE

3 c. flour, unsifted

1 1/2 c. sugar

2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. mayonnaise

1 1/2 c. water

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Grease two 9 x 1 1/2 inch layer pans; line bottoms with waxed paper. Sift together dry ingredients into large bowl. Stir in mayonnaise. Gradually stir in water and vanilla until smooth and blended. Pour into prepared pans. Bake in 350 degree oven about 30 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Cool completely. Remove from pans. Makes 2 layers.

One cold night, after the cake had cooled, Mom went to frost the remainders, but found out that she didn't have enough milk or sugar after making the cake.

But she did have ice cream!

Basic recipe:

* 1/4 cup soft or melted margarine

* Good dash salt

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 2 tablespoons milk

* 2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Mix and mix until all is smooth. Spread upon a 9 by 13-inch cake and serve.

What she did, clever lady that she was, was replace the milk and half of the sugar (she had a cup) with a cup and a half of vanilla ice cream. It not only worked, but was so good that that became her signature way of making frosting.

This turned out to not just be a decent substitute, but a discovery for a better tasting frosting.

You can play with the amount of ice cream, add a little and keep adding until you have what you want.

Oh, and you can use any flavor of ice cream. Chocolate, strawberry, coffee, what ever you like!

You can add chopped nuts, raisins, chopped fruit...let your imagination go. Here is Mom's chocolate mayo cake with ice cream frosting.

I have to admit that as a kid, I preferred the frosting to the butter, but now, as an adult, I wonder if the butter might not be better.

However, his cake is so good, I used to eat it, hot, without either, but which would you choose?

Which Is Best?