Dessert | Chocolate | Cakes

Double Layer Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cake with Mayonnaise

Name: Double Layer Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cake with Mayonnaise
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Cuisine: Argentinian
Ingredients: 100 g All-purpose Flour; 30 g Cocoa Powder; 125 g Sugar; 2 g Baking Soda; 1 pinch Salt; 1 Eggs; 80 g Mayonnaise; 100 g Water; 100 g Dark Chocolate; 150 g Dulce de Leche; 100 g Cream; 10 g Butter; 200 g Dulce de Leche

A double layer chocolate cake made with mayonnaise filled with dulce de leche and covered with a creamy chocolate dulce de leche ganache. The ultimate chocolate cake!

Belula July 21, 2015 July 23, 2020

Jump to Recipe

45° shot of the whole chocolate dulce de leche cake with a slice slightly pulling away

This chocolate dulce de leche cake was a classic at my house growing up. It still is. It is also the cake you have at every little kid's birthday party (or its vanilla variation). Safe to say we use to have it very often back in the day. A little confession: I still make this cake for my birthday every year!! I love it. So simple yet so delicious. Hope you love this chocolate and dulce de leche cake recipe as much as I do!

Material & Ingredient notes

Mayonnaise: it is added in chocolate cake as a replacement to oil or butter, the fat necessary to make any cake. Mayonnaise makes chocolate cake crumb extremely moist, and its especially good for layer chocolate cakes such as this one.
Cocoa powder: use a good quality one. I like Valrhona or Callebaut.
Dulce de leche: I like this one La Serenisima a lot.
18 cm / 7-inch round springform pan

90° shot of the whole chocolate dulce de leche layered cake

45° shot of one slice of chocolate dulce de leche cake with a spoon out of focus on the right hand side

How to make mayonnaise chocolate cake?

This mayonnaise chocolate cake is an adapted version of the one in Bouchon Bakery's book. It is simple to make, and the result is a super moist cake. Do not be discouraged by the mayonnaise in there. Give it a try.

First whisk the eggs and the sugar until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. When you lift your whisk, the mixture should hold together (It will take 10 minutes give or take!).
Secondly, add the mayonnaise and whisk to combine.
Finally, using a spatula, fold in half the dry ingredients and half the water. Fold in the second half of the dry ingredients and the rest of the water. Make sure its properly incorporated to the batter.
Transfer the batter to the greased springform cake pan and bake until set. About 35 minutes. Insert a skewer or a clean knife at the centre of the cake. If it comes out dry and clean your cake is ready to remove from the oven.
Remove from the pan and let it cool down on a wire rack.

How to make this recipe:

Line the springform pan where you baked the cake with plastic wrap.
Once the cake has completely cooled off, cut in half equal parts. Make sure the cake rounds are of the same height. Cut off the top curved part of the cake.
Place the bottom round inside the pan and cover with dulce de leche. Spread evenly using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
Place the second round on top of the dulce de leche layer.
Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove from the pan and place the cake on a wire rack.
Cover the cake with the ganache using an offset spatula.
Transfer to a serving plate and keep at room temperature for 2/3 days.
Transfer to a serving plate and enjoy.

Overhead shot of the whole chocolate and dulce de leche cake

Overhead shot of 3 slices of the chocolate dulce de leche placed in a triangular form

Making the ganache: some tips

The most important thing when making a chocolate ganache is to keep your whisk perpendicular to the chocolate/cream mixture and mix slowly. This will result in a smooth, bubble free, shiny ganache!

To make this chocolate dulce de leche ganache you must:

Bring the cream to simmer and pour it over the chocolate and dulce de leche.
Let it sit for 5 minutes.
Using a whisk gently and slowly mix until combined.
Add the butter and mix until incorporated.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool down at room temperature.

Recipe notes:

Sift the dry ingredients before you add to the batter.
Remove the cake from the pan 5 minutes after you remove it from the oven. You can run a knife between the cake and the pan to make sure it is not stuck to it.
Let it cool down completely before slicing it.
For the frosting of the cake, you can either cover the whole cake with the ganache, or you can only cover the top and go for a naked cake vibe, as I did, and you can see in the photos.

Expert notes:

Use a flat cake ring (o 2 thin books) to help you cut the rounds of cake evenly. Place the cake inside the ring (or in between the book) and using a serrated knife slice the cake rounds. Knife should be always toughing the ring/books and the movement of the knife is slow moving it forwards and then backwards.
Assembling the cake inside the pan helps get beautiful and straight results!
If the ganache hardens too much, you will not be able to work with it to cover the cake. In that case, place it over a water bath until you bring it to the right consistency to work with.
This recipe is meant for an 18 cm/ 7-inch cake pan. If you have a bigger cake pan, no problem! You just need to make a double batch!

Overhead shot of a bowl with the chocolate dulce de leche ganache

Closeup shot of one slice of chocolate dulce de leche cake

How to prep ahead

You can bake the cake, slice it as instructed in the recipe, then cover both discs of cake with film wrap in keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You are then ready to assemble the cake whenever you need to. Make sure to plan for the chilling time of 1 hour once the cake has been filled with de dulce de leche.

You can freeze this cake. You can even make a double batch and save one in the freezer for later! It is a good idea to work with the freezer if you want to plan and have things prepared in advance. To do so:

Let it cool down at room temperature.
Cover in plastic wrap and transfer to a freezer bag.
Freeze for up to a month.

To Defrost: let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Then slice, fill and frost the cake as instructed in the recipe.

Storage tips

This cake can be kept at room temperature for up 2/3 days. Cover the edges with plastic wrap to prevent the cake from drying up.

You can also store it in the refrigerator if you prefer to have this cake cold.

Freezer instructions

You can freeze this cake:

Before assembly either in one piece or already sliced: safely wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer bag for up to 1 month.
Filled with dulce de leche (without the ganache frosting): also safely wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer month for up to 1 month.

To defrost: place in the refrigerator overnight. Unwrap and proceed with the recipe as instructed.

Variations to this recipe

You can replace the dulce de leche with the same ganache you use to cover the cake (I love it this way!)
Filled with dulce de leche (without the ganache frosting): also safely wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer month for up to 1 month.
You can replace the ganache with a regular chocolate ganache.
You can fill the cake with Nutella instead of dulce de leche.

The ingredients used in all recipes on this site are measured using the metric system. I use a scale to be precise with my measurements and ensure good results. If you would also like to use a scale, here are some: USA, Canada, UK, Australia, France.

Double Layer Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cake with Mayonnaise

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 10 servings

Nutrition: 299 cal

Cuisine: Argentinian

Ingredients

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

All-purpose Flour 100 g
Cocoa Powder 30 g
Sugar 125 g
Baking Soda 2 g
Salt 1 pinch
Eggs (medium) 1
Mayonnaise 80 g
Water 100 g

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Ganache

Dark Chocolate (70%) 100 g
Dulce de Leche 150 g
Cream 100 g
Butter 10 g

Assembly of the cake

Dulce de Leche 200 g

Procedure

1. Make the Mayonnaise chocolate cake: Butter and flour the cake pan. Pre-heat the oven to 170C°/350F. Sift the flour, the baking powder, the baking soda and the salt. Set aside. Whisk the eggs and the sugar until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. About 10 minutes. Add the mayonnaise and whisk to combine. Fold in half the dry ingredients followed by half the water, until incorporated to the batter. Fold in the second half of the dry ingredients and the water. Transfer the batter to the springform cake pan and bake until set. About 35 minutes. Insert a skewer or a clean knife at the centre of the cake. If it comes out dry and clean your cake is ready to remove from the oven. Remove from the pan and let if cool down on a wire rack.
2. Make the dulce de leche chocolate ganache: Place the dulce de leche and chocolate cut in small cubes in a bowl. Bring the cream to simmer and pour it over the chocolate/butter/dulce de leche. Let it rest for about 3 minutes. Using a small whisk start stirring very slowly at the centre of the bowl. Once you notice that the colour begins to change, meaning that the chocolate and cream are coming together nicely, you can speed up your movement! Whisk until shiny and combined. Add the butter and mix until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool down at room temperature.
3. Assembly of the double layer Chocolate Dulce de leche Cake: Line the springform pan where you baked the cake with plastic wrap. Once the cake has completely cooled off, cut in half. Make sure the cake rounds are of the same height. Cut off the top curved part of the cake. Place the bottom round inside the pan and cover with dulce de leche. Spread evenly using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Place the second round on top of the dulce de leche layer. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Frost the chocolate cake: Remove from the pan and place the cake on a wire rack. Cover the cake with the ganache using an offset spatula. Transfer to a serving plate and keep at room temperature for 2/3 days.

If you made this recipe I would really appreciate it if you leave a rating or comment below! Also, if you share on social media please use #cookwithbelula, I would love to see what you create!

13 comments

(3)

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13 Comments

Sabrina July 21, 2015

How much cocoa should be used? I believe this was omitted in the recipe. Thanks!

Belula July 21, 2015

Hi Sabrina, it's 30 g. Thanks for pointing it out.

Susana July 21, 2015

Hi, thanks for sharing your delicious recipes. Can't find oven temp for this one. Thanks!

Belula July 21, 2015

Hi Susana, thank you! You should keep the temperature at 170 degrees celcius! Happy baking!

Shaheen July 22, 2015

Looks great, Belen!! I'm going to try this recipe. Keep meaning to buy the Bouchon Bakery books but haven't come around to..

Belula July 30, 2015

Hi Shaheen, thank youu so much!!!! Let me know if you find it to be as good I I do :)

Caro November 30, 2015

I tried it and it was great. Thanks!

Belula December 08, 2015

Hi Caro, I'm very glad that you tried it and it worked! :))

Jeanette December 07, 2015

How much flour? You wrote 100 grams.

Belula December 08, 2015

Hello Jeanette, the amount of flour is correct. You should use 100g.

Karina May 07, 2017

When mixing the eggs with sugar, Could you explained what the consistency of the mixture should be. I used an electric old fashion hand mixer for 3 minutes in medium speed instead of beating by hand. After the cake came out of the oven and cooled downmade the cake, it kind of sank in the middle a little. I was thinking i did not beat the mixture long enough. I appreciate your help

Belula October 24, 2017

Hi Karina, You should mix for about 10/12 minutes. THe mixture should be really thick and heavy. It's volume should probably double in size! This is the base of the cake... it what will hold it together after! Hope to have helped :)

Aleena December 01, 2018

Have a doubt.can I use oil instead of butter,in same quantity?

Belula January 11, 2019

Hi Aleena, You can just go ahead and use only mayonnaise, instead of part butter and part mayonnaise:) It tastes great!

Amanda Gajdosik July 29, 2020

Love mayonnaise in a chocolate cake, Belen!

Belula July 30, 2020

Hi Amanda!!! I love it too! I was skeptical at first I must admit! It turns out it tastes great!!

Frans Harts November 08, 2020

Simply amazing. One of my kids and I made this cake for wife's birthday. My beautiful Argentinian partner loved it!!! She asked for a second slice, and why not, it was her birthday today. This recipe is a keeper.

Dear Miss Gowland, thank you for sharing this incredible recipe.

Belula November 09, 2020

Hello Frans!
I am so so happy you and your family loved this cake!! Its a favorite in our family too ?? And thank you so much for taking the time to share this with me here! It means the world!

Cristina February 07, 2021

Hi! I’m excited to make this cake. You wrote to sift the baking powder, but don’t see it on the ingredient list. Did you mean sift the cocoa?
Thanks!

Belula February 07, 2021

Hi Cristina! Yes!!! I meant to say sift the cocoa :) thank you for pointing this out! I'll go change it!
Hope you love it!

Francisca February 13, 2021

I made this cake for my brother in-law's birthday dinner and it was the perfect dessert for the evening. The cake was moist, rich but not too sweet, and the balance with the dulce de leche and ganache....superb! Everyone loved it, and most of all, I love putting it together. I love your recipes! Today I'm going to do the beef empanadas & the raspberry macaron. Thank you for putting together a delicious book of recipes for us to try & taste.

Belula March 23, 2021

Hi Francisca! Reading your comment just filled my heart with joy. It makes so happy to learn you and your family loved this cake as much as I do ( i make it for my own birthday every year lol)! And the fact that you enjoyed baking it, well that is just the cherry on top of the cake.
It is my absolute pleasure to share the recipes in my little corner of the internet, and how lucky am I that you found them and love them! Thank you for your feedback. Hope you enjoyed the empanadas and the macarons too!
P.S: sorry about the late response!

Gaia October 25, 2021

Hi Belén! Just one quick question: is it just one egg? Thanks!

Belula October 25, 2021

Hi Gaia! Yes it is only one egg! Hope you enjoy the cake!

Agostina November 19, 2021

Probé la receta del budin de chocolate y quedó delicioso. Gracias por compartir tan buenas recetas❤.
Te quería preguntar si posible reemplazar la mayonesa con aceite, quedaría menos esponjoso y húmedo?

Belula November 22, 2021

Hola Agostina,
Que bueno que te haya gustado el budín 💜
Diría que no porque te va a quedar muy líquida la masa ya que también lleva agua. Podrías reemplazar por manteca pomada.
Si querés si o si ponerle aceite, saca el agua y reemplazala por yogurt natural. Debería quedar bien, aunque nunca he probado esta combinación ! Espero haberte ayudado!
🤗