MACARONI GRILL'S WARM CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH FUDGE SAUCE

"A while back I was looking for the AppleBee's Triple Chocolate Meltdown recipe...which I never did find, BUT...I have come across another fabu cake! The Macaroni Grill's warm chocolate cake with fudge sauce! I found this on the net, and have scaled the recipe down to 1 cake, and made a few changes."

FOR THE CAKE:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups mayonnaise
1 3/4 cups cold brewed coffee (room temperature)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
FOR THE FUDGE SAUCE:
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
FOR SERVING:
vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream
chopped nuts

TO MAKE THE CAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda together. Mix with mayonnaise, coffee, and vanilla, taking care not over mix. Batter will be thick. Pour batter into a 13x9 inch pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

TO MAKE THE FUDGE SAUCE:
Bring cream to a simmer in a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate all at once. Let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk the glaze smooth.

PRESENTATION:
Cut a fairly large square of cake, and place on a dessert plate. (Still warm, or reheat in microwave slightly) Liberally pour warm fudge sauce over cake. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream (please-- no cool whip for this baby) and chopped nuts.

Adapted from source: Canarygirl, Recipezaar