Brunswick mom wins Hellmann's challenge for ABC's 'The Taste', makes carrot cake with mayonnaise

BRUNSWICK, Ohio - Mayonnaise in a cake? Some of you may be thinking, “Yuck,” but it helped a Brunswick woman win a national competition and get a free trip to Los Angeles to show her recipe on ABC's "The Taste."

"I heard about the Hellmann's challenge on ‘The Taste’ and it was a recipe contest.  I thought, ‘I could use Hellman's in an original way.’  I thought everyone would do salad or chicken, so I thought I would try desert," Diane Turner said.

Turner, who calls herself a "home cook," told NewsChannel5 she used to have a licensed kitchen and sold wholesale for a bit. Now, she mainly cooks for the love of it.

The competition called for chefs to use mayo in an original way, so Turner ditched her vegetable oil for mayonnaise and got to baking.

"I have a plain yellow cake mix and vanilla pudding mix," said Turner as she detailed the recipe.

For winning the competition, she got to do the same thing on the set in Tuesday night's airing of "The Taste." She was seen with famous chef Brian Malarkey, who described Turner’s cake as moist.

Even Turner's kids enjoyed the fresh orange cream cheese frosting. 

Turner said she was surprised to learn she had won only about a week after applying for the competition. 

"I think I'm going to start doing more because there's some prizes to be won,” Turner said.

Want to try it out?  Here's the recipe:

Supreme Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg plain yellow cake mix

1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix

2/3 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise

4 large eggs

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots (5 medium)

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese

1 stick butter

3 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tbs fresh orange juice

1 tbs grated orange peel