my kitchen: super moist red velvet mayo cake

Have you ever bought the tub of mayonnaise from Costco? It's HUGE- 64 ounces and there's no way that I could eat enough tuna sandwiches or egg salad for all the mayo. So I was trying to figure out how to use it up and ended up finding a recipe for it in cake. YES, cake!

guess the secret ingredient!

It makes sense, after all, mayo is made from eggs, oil and vinegar. I remember spotting vinegar in the recipe for Auntie Em's red velvet cupcakes (my favorite red velvet in LA) a long time ago, which I thought was curious at the time, but made me think this would work even more since their cupcakes are also very moist. And google showed quite a few people vouching for it, saying that it was their grandma's recipe from WWII when mayo was creatively subbed for eggs or butter. I checked the label for the Kirkland brand which also had a touch of salt, lemon and paprika, which I thought would be fine. I used box mix, though you can also make it from scratch.

It was fun to frost the cake and faster than frosting 24 cupcakes, though the cake was so heavy at the end. I definitely recommend buying a springform pan too so you can just get a perfectly round cake without too much hassle. I did have to cut off the top of the cake to get a smooth surface, and ended up using those using those pieces to taste test.

The end result- I was super happy with. Don't know if you can see how moist the cake is. For red velvet, it would also be good dusted with some powdered sugar too or fresh cream cheese frosting.

Speaking of cakes, does anyone know where to get cute cake stands in Taipei?

SUPER-MOIST RED VELVET MAYO CAKE
(adapted from Hellmann's recipe)

1 box (18 oz.) cake mix
1 cup American style Mayonnaise
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.
Beat cake mix, mayonnaise, water, eggs and cinnamon in large bowl with electric mixer or by hand. Pour batter into prepared pan(s), springform pan recommended.
Bake 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack; remove from pans and cool completely. Sprinkle, if desired, with confectioners sugar or fill and frost.