Tomato Soup Cake

Submitted by: CATHY SALTER, founding TCI member

This early spice cake recipe has a mystery ingredient that has been a source of comfort for bakers in times of hardship and scarcity. Its history goes back to the turn-of-the-last century when cake recipes called for forms of baking soda that needed to be paired with an acid and heat.  The result was a reaction that generated carbon dioxide bubbles.  One source of acid was buttermilk when making banana bread.  Another was condensed tomato soup—the mystery ingredient used in this spicy cake recipe.  According to the King Arthur Baking Company and Campbell Soup Company, Tomato Soup Cake was extremely moist and enormously popular in the 1930s and 1940s when food shortages resulted during the Great Depression and World War II.  It was also popular in the 1960s when poet Sylvia Plath baked her mother’s Tomato Soup Cake recipe from The Joy of Cooking cookbook.  For an in-depth culinary history of Tomato Soup Cake, read Diana Hubbell’s fascinating article published March 4, 2022, on the Gastro Obscura website— “This Depression-Era ‘Magic Cake’ has a Secret Ingredient.” 

Tomato Soup Cake

From a recipe from the Campbell Soup Company
& the King Arthur Baking Company

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• ¼ cup vegetable oil

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 can (10.5 ounces) plain condensed tomato soup

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

• ½ teaspoon allspice

• ½ teaspoon cloves

• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest

• ¾ cup raisins

• ¾ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

• 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature (optional)

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch square cake pan.

2. Mix the egg, oil, and sugar together. Stir in the canned tomato soup

3. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, spices, and orange zest to the wet ingredients and beat until smooth. Fold in the raisins and nuts until evenly distributed.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a rack.

5. While the cake cools, combine the softened cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, orange zest, and butter (if using) in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy. Spread over the cooled cake and serve.