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Abstract

wrote it in my diary for today!“Where’s the recipe?”, you ask.I have it in my Recipes folder but remembered a story my sister who now lives in the States told me when she shared a recipe with her office colleagues. They couldn’t understand the metric measurements and asked her to convert to Imperial.So that’s what I had to do before getting to the recipe.My HP-12-C financial calculator died three years ago but I didn’t replace it. Complex calculations of costings and financial loan repayments from my banking days no longer play a role in my new life as a writer.Please wait while I check the conversions online and calculate on my phone. (Hauls out scrap paper, pencil and eraser.)When are you guys going to switch to metric and join the rest of the world? At least I don’t have to convert the minutes!<h1 id="ae92">Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Ganache Topping</h1><h2 id="4b11">Ingredients for cake</h2>335 g (630 ml) (2¾ US Cups) Cake Flour40 g (110 ml) (½ US Cup) cocoa powder — no substitutes!320 g (380 ml) (1½ US Cups) castor sugar5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt8 ml (2 teaspoons) bicarbonate of soda300 ml (1⅓ US Cups) mayonnaise400 ml (1⅔ US Cups) room temperature water5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla essence<h2 id="1363">For ganache topping</h2>250 ml (1 US Cup) fresh cream400 g (2 x 6.8 oz) Dark Chocolate barsChopped chocolate shavings for garnish<h2 id="ede7">Preparation</h2>Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F) (Gas Mark 4) and line a 23 cm (9-inch) round baking tin with wax paperI use a 20 cm (8-inch) round spring-form cake tin that is 7 cm (3 inches) deep and just line the bottom with wax paper and then spray with Cook n Bake.Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, castor sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Give it a good mix to co

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mbine.In a separate bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, water and vanilla essence. Gradually add the liquid to the sifted ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared baking tin.Bake for 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tinAs I only line the bottom with wax paper, I let cool for an hour and then remove from tin onto a plate. Then I cover and leave overnight in the fridge.<h2 id="be6f">Good morning ganache!</h2>Bring the fresh cream to a gentle boil and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth and leave to cool.I stick it in the fridge to cool until it’s the consistency of butter icing and then spread over sides and top of cake with a knife and a dash of panache!Dip the knife in a cup of hot water if it gets too clogged up with the ganache mix but shake dry — the purpose is to keep the blade hot, not make the ganache watery.Sprinkle over the chocolate shavings (Can be milk or white chocolate if you prefer.) I don’t have the patience for shaving chocolate — I use store-bought chocolate sprinkles.Can you believe this brand name in South Africa?<figure id="8861"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*GhtJSh6BfASKHGddReXg-g.png"><figcaption>Photo by Author</figcaption></figure>Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream — or both!The cake remains fresh and moist for days. But it’s so delicious, you’ll gobble it up in no time!This writer takes no responsibility for errors in her Imperial calculations — though she’s a whiz at math. She’s rounded off numbers. For example, you can’t measure 2.79 US cups of flour with any accuracy.Nor does she have any photo’s, having lived without an oven for three years. She hopes one day to make enough money from writing to buy one!I look forward to hearing your verdict and thank you for being here.</article></body>

Food

Did You Think Mayonnaise Was Only for Salads?

Why not try it in this delicious dark chocolate cake?

Last year (that’s the first time I’ve referred to 2020 as the past — good riddance) Lucy The Eggcademic (she/her) shared her scientific experiment baking a chocolate cake with mayonnaise.

Of course, her ingredients included other essentials such as flour, but she omitted vanilla essence and substituted others. Her creative genius resulted in her consuming the cake over a few days. You can read her verdict here:

The Adventures of Baking a Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake

A series of unfortunate events — in lab report format

medium.com

I responded that I would share another choc mayo cake recipe and then dropped off the planet until 2021. As often happens, I forgot because I hadn’t written a note as a reminder for my wayward memory.

Yesterday Aimée Gramblin opened my memory vault by asking me to please share the recipe. To make sure my commitment didn’t slip from my mind again, I wrote it in my diary for today!

“Where’s the recipe?”, you ask.

I have it in my Recipes folder but remembered a story my sister who now lives in the States told me when she shared a recipe with her office colleagues. They couldn’t understand the metric measurements and asked her to convert to Imperial.

So that’s what I had to do before getting to the recipe.

My HP-12-C financial calculator died three years ago but I didn’t replace it. Complex calculations of costings and financial loan repayments from my banking days no longer play a role in my new life as a writer.

Please wait while I check the conversions online and calculate on my phone. (Hauls out scrap paper, pencil and eraser.)

When are you guys going to switch to metric and join the rest of the world? At least I don’t have to convert the minutes!

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Ganache Topping

Ingredients for cake

335 g (630 ml) (2¾ US Cups) Cake Flour

40 g (110 ml) (½ US Cup) cocoa powder — no substitutes!

320 g (380 ml) (1½ US Cups) castor sugar

5 ml (1 teaspoon) salt

8 ml (2 teaspoons) bicarbonate of soda

300 ml (1⅓ US Cups) mayonnaise

400 ml (1⅔ US Cups) room temperature water

5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla essence

For ganache topping

250 ml (1 US Cup) fresh cream

400 g (2 x 6.8 oz) Dark Chocolate bars

Chopped chocolate shavings for garnish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180°C (356°F) (Gas Mark 4) and line a 23 cm (9-inch) round baking tin with wax paper

I use a 20 cm (8-inch) round spring-form cake tin that is 7 cm (3 inches) deep and just line the bottom with wax paper and then spray with Cook n Bake.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, castor sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Give it a good mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, water and vanilla essence. Gradually add the liquid to the sifted ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into the prepared baking tin.

Bake for 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin

As I only line the bottom with wax paper, I let cool for an hour and then remove from tin onto a plate. Then I cover and leave overnight in the fridge.

Good morning ganache!

Bring the fresh cream to a gentle boil and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth and leave to cool.

I stick it in the fridge to cool until it’s the consistency of butter icing and then spread over sides and top of cake with a knife and a dash of panache!

Dip the knife in a cup of hot water if it gets too clogged up with the ganache mix but shake dry — the purpose is to keep the blade hot, not make the ganache watery.

Sprinkle over the chocolate shavings (Can be milk or white chocolate if you prefer.) I don’t have the patience for shaving chocolate — I use store-bought chocolate sprinkles.

Can you believe this brand name in South Africa?

Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream — or both!

The cake remains fresh and moist for days. But it’s so delicious, you’ll gobble it up in no time!

This writer takes no responsibility for errors in her Imperial calculations — though she’s a whiz at math. She’s rounded off numbers. For example, you can’t measure 2.79 US cups of flour with any accuracy.

Nor does she have any photo’s, having lived without an oven for three years. She hopes one day to make enough money from writing to buy one!

I look forward to hearing your verdict and thank you for being here.