Chocolate Mayo Cake

Also part of the 35th Anniversary celebration, Matt and I made a three-layer chocolate mayonnaise cake with strawberry filling and meringue frosting. We also made mini chocolate mayo cupcakes with coral and jade white chocolate frosting (the colors of the party) and white-chocolate dipped strawberries. I know, we're nuts! But, minus the back of the cake falling right before the party because of the ridiculous high temps, it was an overall success. We made a beautiful looking, super yummy cake and transported it all the way to Northern KY! I also managed to keep everything pretty clean too!

 
The chocolate mayo cake is a Thompson family favorite, made with, yes, you guessed it, mayonnaise. The mayo replaces the oil in the cake mix and makes for a super moist and super yummy cake. I don't like chocolate cake, but I eat this one!
Chocolate Mayo Cake
1 box (16.5 oz.) chocolate cake mix (use an organic cake mix or scratch-made mix to keep it clean)
1 cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise (Hellmann's is all-natural)
1 cup water
3 eggs
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch round cake pans; set aside.
Beat cake mix, Hellmann's, water and eggs 30 seconds in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed. Beat on medium speed, scraping sides occasionally, 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool completely. Sprinkle, if desired, with confectioners sugar or fill and frost. 

We doubled the recipe and made three round cakes and used the leftover batter for the mini cupcakes. For the strawberry filling, take 2 1/2 cups of strawberries cut into pieces, 1 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of corn starch and 3/4 cup of sugar and cook over a stovetop, stirring until the strawberries dissolve into a gel filling. Let cool completely before putting in between the layers of cake. Assemble the cake and apply the frosting carefully, so you don't knock the layers off. Keep the cake in the fridge or a cool place because the frosting will melt in hot temps, as we sadly learned! For the cupcakes, I melted white chocolate and just dipped the tops into the melted chocolate.

Meringue Frosting
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
In a saucepan, stir together the sugar, water and cream of tartar. Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly.
In a medium mixing bowl, whip the egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar mixture while whipping constantly until stiff peaks form, about 7 to 10 minutes. Frost the cake of your choice.