-
Makes
One 2-layer cake
Author Notes
This was my grandmother Ruthie’s recipe, a technique that Irish immigrants apparently relied on when short on money and fresh ingredients. It tastes nothing like tomato soup, I assure you; but rather like a nice spice cake, spotted with raisins, best with a cream cheese frosting.
This recipe was originally printed, sans raisins, in Linda Bassett’s From Apple Pie to Pad Thai: Neighborhood Cooking North of Boston (Commonwealth Editions, 2002). —Marian Bull
- Test Kitchen-Approved
Ingredients
2 cups
all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups
sugar
4 teaspoons
baking powder
1 teaspoon
baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons
ground allspice
1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon
ground cloves
one
10 3/4-ounce can condensed tomato soup (Campbell’s is most traditional)
1/2 cup
shortening (or butter)
2
large eggs
1/4 cup
water
1 cup
raisins-
Cream cheese frosting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans, shaking out any excess flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the soup, shortening, eggs, and water. Beat together until everything forms a smooth (pink!) batter. Fold in raisins. Pour the batter into the cake pans, doing your best to get the same amount in each.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes; when the cake is done, the tines of a fork should come out clean.
- Let cake cool completely before frosting; my mother says that Ruthie would likely frost each layer, and leave the sides bare, which I’ve done here.
Photo by James Ransom Makes One 2-layer cake Author Notes This was my grandmother Ruthie’s recipe, a technique that Irish immigrants apparently relied on when short on money and fresh ingredients. It tastes nothing like tomato soup, I assure you; but rather like a nice spice cake, spotted with raisins, best with a cream cheese frosting. This recipe was originally printed, sans raisins, in Linda Bassett’s From Apple Pie to Pad Thai: Neighborhood Cooking North of Boston (Commonwealth Editions, 2002). —Marian Bull Test Kitchen-Approved Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/3 cups sugar 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves one 10 3/4-ounce can condensed tomato soup (Campbell’s is most traditional) 1/2 cup shortening (or butter) 2 large eggs 1/4 cup water 1 cup raisins Cream cheese frosting Directions Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans, shaking out any excess flour. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the soup, shortening, eggs, and water. Beat together until everything forms a smooth (pink!) batter. Fold in raisins. Pour the batter into the cake pans, doing your best to get the same amount in each. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes; when the cake is done, the tines of a fork should come out clean. Let cake cool completely before frosting; my mother says that Ruthie would likely frost each layer, and leave the sides bare, which I’ve done here.
Tomato Soup Cake
