Baking season is upon us, and I have never been more excited. Each year I try to find new ways to elevate my usual holiday baked goods and this year I was feeling stuck. I knew I needed inspiration, so I resorted to my favorite app: TikTok. I scrolled aimlessly trying to find a hack or creative recipe that could influence my recipes for this holiday season. Instead, I came across the mayo cake phenomena and fell down the rabbit hole of “Baking Tok”.
Have you ever heard of mayo cake? Probably not because it truly doesn't sound that appealing. I have heard from multiple different people that you should be putting mayonnaise in your cakes; this was not news to me. It was the fact that multiple videos said that you can replace the oil and eggs in your favorite boxed mix cakes with mayonnaise! This seriously caught my attention.
The Great Portillo's
Of course, for confirmation I had to consult my roommate who loves baking just as much as I do. “Ally, you know Portillo’s has been doing that forever, so they don’t have to buy a ton of eggs and oil, right?” she said. I was shocked. Everything made sense. So, I did more research and found out that Portillo’s, home of the famous Chocolate Cake Shake, puts mayonnaise in their cakes. If you’ve ever had Portillo’s Chocolate Cake, you know that their cake is definitely one to beat. This fact just changed the whole trajectory of my baking life, and I could not be more excited about it.
Oil + Eggs = ?
After finding this life changing information, I decided to come back to reality and think about the mayo cake phenomena logistically. What is mayonnaise made of? Oil and eggs! It is the same ingredients that you would be putting in your cake, just emulsified. This emulsification will help your cake stay super moist and fresh for longer. I know for sure that if my cake had been sitting out for four or more days, I would not want to eat it because I know it is not going to be as good as day one. Using mayonnaise would completely fix this problem.
Now you may be asking yourself “Isn’t it going to taste like mayo?”. Nope! The sweetness of the other ingredients does not make it taste any different than a normal boxed chocolate cake. It will just be quicker, easier, and even moister than your favorite boxed mix. I think that this is a great hack for the holidays or even bakers who just need a bakery quality dessert in a pinch. Using this, along with other hacks, you can wow your holiday crowd with amazing baked goods this season. Check out Isabelle Garcia's article to add even more pizzazz to your holiday cakes. Happy baking!