"White Rabbit Inn Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake" by Senator Homer Ferguson

Homer Ferguson may have my favorite official Congress photo. There’s something about the unkempt hair that says, “I’m just frisky enough to put mayonnaise in a cake.” And just as Senator Ferguson did, so did I.

Chef Homer Ferguson

Republican Senator from Michigan

As always, I followed the recipe word for word from the effortlessly cool dead senator, no alterations:

INGREDIENTS

4 tsp cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp soda

2 cups flour

1 cup old water

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Sift together the cocoa, sugar, salt and soda

A note on the “White Rabbit Inn” portion of the recipe — it may refer to a famous romantic couples retreat B&B in Michigan (Ferguson’s home state), which was formerly a non-romantic hotel.

2) Add the flour to mixture; add the water and mayonnaise and vanilla, beating thoroughly.

The mayonnaise really slaps as it hits those other ingredients. I love it when an ingredient is audible.

3) Bake 1 hour in moderate oven (350 degrees) in tube or regular pan. Cake is very dark and very moist.

I used a regular pan, mostly because it was on top of my tube pan in the pantry. Laziness.

Voila! If you want to actually watch me attempt to eat it, go to the CwC Instagram or TikTok. “Very dark and very moist.” I’ve seen darker. I actually expected it to be significantly chocolatier but it still visually reads as a chocolate cake. The texture is incredible — seriously. Almost crispy on top, and yes, moist in the middle. It’s not the most exciting cake to look at, but it’s a delight to bite into. And you can smell the cooked mayonnaise!

Verdict:

Where is all the bitterness coming from? I expected to taste mayo through and through but it’s basically just chemical bitterness and light chocolate. Why?? The baking soda? The cocoa? I can’t figure it out, I didn’t make a mistake and yet here we are with this remarkably un-sweet chem-cake.