Chocolate Surprise Cake

'Twas my birthday and the kids decided to bake something for me. How nice! They were thinking of doing the Chocolate Date Fudge Cake. But I told them that it's too complicated for beginners like them and just steered to something simpler. They came up with this keeper of a recipe from Sue Lawrence's Book of Baking.

Why is it called a 'surprise' cake? Well, it's got mayonnaise in it! At first I thought it was odd but come to think of it - mayonnaise consists of eggs and oil which is precisely what you put in a cake. I tell you, it was really easy to do and it turned out quite well. It's a shame my pictures don't give it justice. We had slices of it with custard and it was so delicious.

Chocolate Surprise Cake

250 g  self-raising flour
50 g  cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
200 g  caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
200 g  good quality mayonnaise
1 medium egg
160 ml  [2/3 cup] cold water

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch/23cm round pan or 8-inch/20cm square pan.
2. Sift (optional) the flour, cocoa, and baking powder into a large bowl.
3. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre.
4. Add in all the other ingredients.
5. Beat with electric mixer until smooth.
6. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Cool on a wire rack and remove from pan.
8. Ice with fudge frosting or serve with custard/cream.