A bizarre chocolate cake recipe has sparked a heated debate among home cooks across Australia after an unlikely product was revealed to be one of the key ingredients in making the best choccy cake in town.

Food company Heinz has shared an Easter mud cake recipe on its official Australian and New Zealand social media pages, encouraging its patrons to try the secret recipe themselves.

While the post seemed to be harmless, the recipe caused an uproar among baffled customers after they spotted a bizarre ingredient in it — mayonnaise.

Heinz’s chocolate mud cake recipe calls for the use of mayonnaise. Credit: Heinz.​

No need to take a double-look, folks! Heinz's Easter chocolate mud cake recipe includes mayonnaise in its ingredients list, along with other traditional ingredients such as cocoa powder, dark chocolate, and cream.

Many of the consumers admitted that the recipe had them "horrified" and "confused"...

One person wrote: "I’m so confused why is there mayo in a chocolate cake?"

"Thank you for ruining Easter," another joked.

A third sarcastically asked: "Will this work with your garlic aioli?"

Meanwhile, an open-minded home cook expressed their willingness to try the recipe, saying: "I will have to try this because I am super sceptical about mayo in a cake."

However, a number of professional bakers defended the use of mayonnaise in baking, with many claiming that they had been using it as a substitute for eggs, butter, or oil for years.

One baker argued: "There's a lot of people who don't understand cooking or even food for that matter. The mayo has eggs and oil in it, replacing the eggs, oil, or butter in a cake recipe."

"I'm a chef I know what mayo is made of besides the egg, oil and vinegar it also has mustard and salt and pepper. So yeah no thanks not in cake," another quipped.

A number of professional bakers argued that mayonnaise can be a good substitute for eggs, oils, and butter. Credit: Heinz.​

Other seasoned cooks also defended the use of mayonnaise in baked desserts, emphasising that the ingredient makes the cakes "rich" and "moist" and is a great alternative for dairy products.

One home cook shared: "I’ve been making a choc mayo cake for about 25 years. No different to a recipe asking for eggs and vinegar. Tastes great, and the cake is super moist and delish."

"I love using mayonnaise in my chocolate cake recipes I’ve been doing for years it makes the cake really rich you can’t taste it and it’s delicious," another said.

For those who are curious about the full recipe, here is the detailed ingredients list and instructions on how to make Heinz’s version of the classic treat:

Chocolate mayonnaise mudcake

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup Heinz mayonnaise
• 125g dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup cream
• Hundreds and thousands

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Mix the cocoa, hot water and vanilla essence together in a jug. Cool.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda and sugar in a bowl and make a well in the centre.
3. Combine the Heinz Mayonnaise with the cocoa mixture and then pour in the well. Mix together gently.
4. Pour into a well-greased and lined 20cm round cake tin.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cake is cooked when tested. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack.
6. For the glaze, melt dark chocolate and cream together in the microwave for 1 minute.
7. When both the cake and the glaze are cool, pour the glaze over the cake and top with a generous sprinkle of hundreds and thousands.

Source: Heinz

How about you? Will you try using mayonnaise when baking a cake? Better yet, have you used mayonnaise while baking a sweet treat? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

 

[Ricci]

Whatever next? Chocolate custard on your salad?

 

[leanneh]

Actually mayo in chocolate cake is a great way to make a moist cake with a fine, tender crumb. I've used it for years but I must admit my family's favourite chocolate cake has avocado in it instead of butter. It's delicious, moist and lasts better than most cakes.

 

[thinkbeforedecide]

That why I rarely buy commercial products and if I did I always checked the ingredients that they did not include many unhealthy things such as palm oil and many others. If you want moist cakes you better add plain Greek yoghurt. Many ice cream brands add palm oil in, come to CEOs want more bonus from saving money using crap ingredients. In this case they grap the chance to encourage you to use Heinz mayo. Hate to think of the long term health of world population.

 

[youngoldlady]

Have heard of it but never tried it.