ROYAL BAKES

Cakes fit for royalty

It’s moist, dark and delicious and doesn’t taste of mayonnaise. The cake is an American invention made popular by a mayonnaise company who capitalised on the shortage of eggs and butter during World War 2.

360g (3 cups) cake flour

200ml cocoa powder

300g (1½ cups) caster sugar

Pinch of salt

7.5ml (1½ tsp) bicarbonate of soda 300ml good quality full-fat thick mayonnaise (don’t use a salad cream) 400ml water

1 shot (60ml) fresh espresso coffee 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

Glaze:

100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped 45ml (3 tbsp) fresh cream

15g butter

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C. Into the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, caster sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Use a wire whisk to thoroughly combine this mixture. In a large jug combine the mayonnaise, water, espresso and vanilla extract. Mix well.

With the machine running, add this to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Pour the mixture into a well-greased 25cm ring tin. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Combine all the ingredients for the glaze in a glass bowl and microwave on a medium power setting for 1-2 minutes until melted. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly and pour over the cake before it thickens too much. Put the cake in the fridge for about 15 minutes to set the glaze.