Mayonnaise Spice Cake

Yes, mayonnaise in cake. It sounds strange until you remember that mayo is just eggs, oil, and vinegar. It replaces both the eggs and the fat in this recipe, and it produces one of the moistest cakes you’ll ever pull out of the oven.

This is a Depression-era classic that stuck around because it flat-out works. The raisins soak in hot water with baking soda before they go into the batter, which plumps them up and creates a slightly fizzy liquid that helps the cake rise. Cinnamon and cloves give it a warm spice-cake flavor that’s cozy without being heavy.

The batter folds together quickly since there’s no creaming butter or beating eggs. Mix, pour, bake. Thirty-five to forty minutes and it’s done.

Pro Tips

• Use full-fat mayonnaise, not light or fat-free. The reduced versions have fillers that change the texture and the cake won’t rise properly.
• Don’t skip the 10-minute soak for the raisins and nuts. That hot water softens the raisins and activates the baking soda, which is key to the rise.
• This cake is dense and moist enough to eat plain, but a cream cheese frosting or a simple dusting of powdered sugar finishes it nicely.

Variations

• Add cocoa powder to the batter for a chocolate-spice version that’s equally moist.
• Swap raisins for dried cranberries or chopped dates for a different fruit character.
• Use walnuts, pecans, or even hazelnuts for the chopped nuts depending on what you have.