This recipe is from Rose Levy Birnbaum’s The Cake Bible, my favorite book for cakes, hands-down. This cake is moist and delicious. Don’t let the addition of mayonnaise throw you off. This is a cake you can depend on with company coming. I have never had one problem with it even when substituting honey for refined sugar.
1/3 cup cocoa 1 cup boiling water 1 tsp vanilla 3/4 cup mayonnaise 2 cups sifted cake flour 1 cup sugar (or 1 cup honey, if you prefer a cake without refined sugar) 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wisk cocoa and boiling water and cool. Wisk in vanilla and mayonnaise.
Combine remaining dry ingredients, add liquid. Mix low to incorporate and high for a minute to aerate. Scrape into two 8” cake pans, greased and floured. Bake 20-25 minutes until tester inserted comes out clean.
The chocolate glaze is also adapted from Rose Levy Birnbaum in The Cake Bible.
4 oz. Baker’s unsweetened chocolate ½ cup unsalted butter, softened ½ cup honey (more if you want it sweeter) 1 tablespoon vanilla
Using a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water on low heat or microwave on high power (stirring every 10 seconds) melt the chocolate. Remove from heat before the chocolate is fully melted and stir until melted. Stir in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until blended. If necessary, return briefly to heat, but do not allow to become too hot or the butter will separate.
Add honey and vanilla. Stir until uniform in color.
Allow glaze to cool for about 20 minutes.
Allow the cake layers to cool and then pour the glaze over one before adding the other and then adding glaze to it. Allow the cake to set for 2 hours at room temperature. Refrigerating the cake will dull the glaze slightly. Add the strawberries just before serving.
For those who need a balance to all of this chocolate (and because it will be pretty), serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
This is for chocolate lovers. Those of us who like less chocolate will want a smaller slice or more whipped cream. Rich, rich, rich. My husband loves this cake.
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