CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR ALL PURPOSES

"One of the handiest things to have in your dessert repertoire is a fast, easy, reliable, delicious chocolate cake—and that's exactly what the following recipe gives you. You can serve it just as it is—or you can embellish it with your favorite frosting. You can make two of these cakes and put a layer of buttercream between them. You can serve the cake with ice cream, with whipped cream, with mascarpone, with fruit. You can also freeze it, and serve it next month. One of the secrets to its good nature is the inclusion of mayonnaise—yes, Hellmann's®, or another good brand! The great news is that mayo, though undetectable as mayo in the finished product, adds a lovely mouth feel to any chocolate cake. The following recipe uses a little butter, milk, egg—and mayo—to devastatingly delicious effect."

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup good-quality mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's®
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish with the butter. Sprinkle evenly with the all-purpose flour. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar, mayonnaise, and vanilla with a whisk until blended.

In another bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, beat the eggs lightly, then add the milk, whisking to blend.

Whisking slowly, add one-third of the flour mixture to the mayonnaise mixture. Add half of the egg-milk mixture, whisking, then another third of the flour mixture. Keep whisking, then finish with the remaining half of the egg mixture, and the last third of the flour mixture. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a rack.

Yield: 8 servings
Adapted from source: It's All American Food by David Rosengarten