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Tomato Soup Cake
1/2 CUP SHORTENING I CUP SUGAR I CUP TOMATO SOUP I TEASPOON SODA 2 CUPS FLOUR 2 TEASPOONS BAKING POWDER I TEASPOON CINNAMON 1/2 TEASPOON CLOVES I TEASPOON NUTMEG I CUP RAISINS I CUP CHOPPED WALNUTS Blend shortening with sugar. Add tomato soup into which soda has been stirred. Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture. Stir in nuts and raisins. Pour into cake pan and bake in moderate oven, 50-60 minutes.
I use entire can of Campbell's Tomato Soup, which is 1 cup. The shortening is Crisco. . The shortening is Crisco.
A spice cake in the depression-era mold: the soup supplies liquid, acid and colour, and no eggs are required. A few of the original's assumptions need translating.
- Moderate ovenTake this as around 350F. The recipe says only "cake pan"; in an 8- or 9-inch pan the stated 50 to 60 minutes should be about right, so test at the earlier end.
- Use the soup condensedCampbell's tomato soup straight from the can, not diluted with water or milk. The recipe's author says the whole can equals her cup; a modern 10.5 to 10.75 oz can runs somewhat more than a cup, so you can either follow her and tip the whole can in or measure a level cup.
- Soda in the soupStirring the soda into the soup is not a quirk. The acid in the tomato reacts at once and the mixture will foam; add it to the creamed shortening and get the batter into the pan without dawdling.
- No eggsThe recipe is eggless by design, so the crumb depends entirely on the soda-acid reaction and the baking powder. Do not overmix once the flour goes in or the cake turns tough and squat.
- ShorteningCrisco is vegetable shortening; any solid all-vegetable shortening behaves the same. Butter works but shortens the keeping quality and pushes the flavour toward an ordinary spice cake.
- FlourPlain all-purpose flour, since baking powder is listed separately. If you use self-rising, omit the baking powder.
- Fruit and nutsToss the raisins and walnuts with a spoonful of the measured flour before folding them in; the batter is loose enough that they will otherwise sink.
- Yield and servingAn 8x8 pan gives about twelve modest squares. The recipe specifies no finish; versions of this cake are often left plain or given a cream cheese frosting, and the spice comes forward on the second day.