I thought these were ideal for Valentine's Day because all the ingredients are placed in a single bowl, in no particular order, and then mixed all together. It's the relationship equivalent of putting all your love cards on the table, not withholding emotions, not mixing the butter and sugar first, then adding the eggs and slowly adding the flour. It's jumping off the cliff and hoping you land in love. I did that with DH nearly 30 years ago (after surviving some heartbreaking game playing relationships) and it worked out pretty well.
And so, without further ado (and because I'm traveling and writing this on a frustratingly ancient computer), I bring you the photos for this. Note that the frosting is from a c. 1940s or 1950s Ladies Home Journal recipe box. (Pick up the March issue of that magazine to see a wonderful feature about this blog-- more about that next week.)
Production notes: Although the recipe calls for Miracle Whip, I used Hellman's. And the frosting can be applied without a pastry bag -- just smooth on with a knife or small spatula. Mayonnaise cakes are a classic -- Rose Levy Berenbaum in The Cake Bible includes a recipe that she found written on a 1919 postcard! Since mayonnaise is basically eggs and oil, it replaces the eggs and butter.
If you really want to be a sweetheart (and don't have time to bake or buy a gift), you can consider making a Valentine's Day donation to Henry Street Settlement, and we'll send an eCard to your honey telling them of your thoughtfulness.
susan, did you use mayonnaise or miracle whip (as called for)?
ReplyDeleteAh, good point, Peggy. No, I'm a Hellman's "real" mayonnaise gal, so that's what I used. I'll amend the post now. Thanks!
DeleteI remember my Grandma making mayonnaise cake! As a child I thought it was the worst thing in the world to do to chocolate cake, but if she didn't tell me I usually didn't know the difference. Usually. I recall that she did use Miracle Whip once and that the "zip" could definitely be tasted.
ReplyDeleteSo funny, Tug's Girl! My daughter would never eat this cake (I made the recipe in The Cake Bible for years)if I told her what the secret ingredient was!
DeleteThose are beautiful! They really have a nice rise. And now I have the C&H Pure Cane Sugar jingle going through my head. :) Ah, childhood memories...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margi. I don't know that jingle, but glad to help conjure up some childhood memories!
DeleteThank you for this easy recipe. They are in the oven as we speak ! I am unsure about the frosting though. Is it safe to use raw eggs in the frosting ?
ReplyDeleteHi, rabbit. I use raw eggs A LOT and have never had a problem. I don't buy "supermarket" eggs -- the ones for 99 cents a dozen. I usually get them from an egg farmer at our local farmer's market or buy the organic ones (or at the very least, the cage-free ones) at the grocery store. If you don't feel comfortable with the raw eggs, a plain buttercream would work well with this, as would the gravy icing that's on my blog (just search Betty's Chocolate Cake). Let me know how the cupcakes turn out!
DeleteSusan, I am so glad I found your blog. I love reading old recipes and seeing your pictures of how they turn out. The cupcakes turned out great, me and my honey had one for breakfast !! I didn't see your reply about the frosting in time so I made my old standby butter cream frosting. I only had supermarket eggs anyway. Your frosting looked much nicer though.
DeleteWhat a nice Valentine's Day treat. So glad they turned out well and in my book, all frosting is good frosting! The raw egg white frosting does have a nice consistency for piping (and I need all the help I can get)!
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