My-Oh-Mayonnaise Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 20 cupcakes

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Approx 140 kcal per cupcake

'Mayonnaise cupcakes?!' I hear you protest. Yes, really, and what's more, they're actually really good! 

But let's get back to where this whole mayonnaise and baking nonsense started for me - that was this morning, and since then I have learned three lessons:

Lesson number 1 - Mayonnaise can be used to bake cakes, and apparently grandmothers already knew this for..well.. since grandmothers existed pretty much (in fact if you are one of these said grandmothers you are properly shaking your head at the screen and tut-tutting at my culinary ignorance right now.. )

Lesson number 2 - Mayonnaise, and in this case we're talking vegan mayonnaise, makes delicious buttery cupcakes! Why else would grandmothers use it?

And a completely irrelevant lesson number 3 - must avoid wearing a ponytail when doing yoga or Hatty the cat will pounce predator-style at me again during sun salutations.. to be fair though she makes up for it by cuddling up into a ball underneath me when I'm in child's pose :)

These cupcakes can't really be called healthy by any stretch of the imagination, but they are worth every ounce of fat and sugar that goes into them. Add a chocolate sauce filling and suddenly they've disappeared. Into people's tummies that is. I brought the whole batch to work today and they were gone in no time. 

People say there's nothing like getting out of our comfort zone, I'm guessing this goes for cooking as well, so go on, reach for the mayonnaise and try these out, you'll be pleasantly surprised. 

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat white flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 t baking soda

1 t baking powder

2 cups sugar (i used agave powdered sugar)

1 t vanilla essence

1 cup egg-free mayonnaise

300ml warm coffee

Optional filling

chocolate sauce or melted dairy-free chocolate

Directions

Preheat the oven to 370°F/180°C. Make sure the oven is ready to put the cupcakes straight in once you have combined the wet and dry mixtures. Prepare cupcake cases or lightly grease a cupcake baking tray.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. IN a separate smaller bowl put the mayonnaise and beat in the coffee and vanilla essence. Gradually pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and beat until completely combined. 

Scoop a large tablespoon for each cupcake into the cases or baking tray. Put in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool the the cupcakes on a rack for about 15 minutes. 

For the optional filling, cup out a cone shaped hole in the top centre of each cupcake, fill with chocolate sauce or melted chocolate and place the cones back on top of the cupcakes.