Mayo, no mustard, no ketchup

I spent last night baking giant German chocolate muffins. Giant as in each muffin cup was filled with a fourth of the batter that would normally be used for a 9X9 cake.

The recipe, one that my mom handed down to me has a secret ingredient. One that isn’t typically thought of when baking sweets ~ mayonnaise. A little bit of Hellmann’s is mixed into the batter. Before you start in with “ewwws” and “yucks,” remember all mayo is made of is lemon juice, egg yolks and oil. When you think of it that way, those ingredients separately aren’t so bad.

The upside is that this recipe makes the most moist chocolate cake ever. (This is also the only acceptable use of the word “moist.”)

My giant muffins were topped with the only icing meant for German chocolate – coconut, pecan praline oozy, gooey-ness. I think it’s some sort of culinary law that unless it’s more chocolate, this is the only other icing permitted

Mayo Cake

2 cups flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup mayonnaise (NO SUBSTITUTES)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 375º F. Stir together all dry ingredients, set aside. Mix together remaining ingredients, adding slowly to dry ingredients, stirring well. Pour into greased and floured 9-inch square pan. Bake about 30 minutes or until tests done.

German Chocolate Topping

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks with 1 teaspoon water
½ cup butter (one stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cup chopped pecans
1½ cup flaked coconut

In a large saucepan combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut. Spread on cake while still warm.

A little confession – I didn’t have enough evaporated milk for the topping and didn’t want to go back out, cuz I’m lazy. I also didn’t want to ask The Boy is get some on his way home from class, cuz I knew he would just want to get home. I did some checking and found that light cream could be substituted, and for some reason I actually had a half pint of cream. So voilà, I was back in business. I was in an instant gratification mode and having to wait to bake in the morning would have been a real buzz kill.

Why was it so important to bake these monster muffins last night? Because, today is my birthday, my 49th birthday, and if I wanted a cake I was going to have to bake it myself. All it needs now is a candle on top.