DS just had a birthday. As he’s about to embark on the rest
of his life away from here, I relished the opportunity to make him an honest to
goodness non-virtual birthday cake. Who knows when I’ll get to do it again on
his actual birthday?
In years past, it was easy. The choice was always chocolate.
Sometimes it was chocolate with chocolate chips and dark chocolate frosting.
“Chocolate, right? “ I said.
“No,” he said. “Not chocolate this time, and please surprise me.”
They do grow up, don’t they.
But then he added, “Make it something weird. And don’t tell me.”
A weird surprise. Okay,
maybe he’s still a kid at heart.
But what should I make?
I did not want to make something weird for weird’s sake, as
a sort of joke that after a brief chuckle will not be edible. Weird is one
thing, but if I make a cake I want it to be good.
I remembered that years ago I made just such a cake. It was
popular briefly across the land. It was good, surprisingly so. It was a spice
cake made with a full can of condensed tomato soup.
It seemed a bit weird even then. But to the millennials it
qualifies as uncanny, pun intended.
And so I made a Tomato Soup Spice Cake, with cream cheese
frosting, and added candied angelica and cherries glace on top.
Result?
One good cake—
And one happy son—
Recipe:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Tomato
Soup
- ½ cup butter
- 2 egg
- ¼ cup water
Step 1
Heat the oven to
350°F. Grease two 9” inch baking pans.
Step
2
Stir the flour,
granulated sugar, baking powder, allspice, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves in
a large bowl. Add the soup, butter, eggs and water. Beat with an
electric mixer on low speed just until blended. Increase the speed to high
and beat for 2 minutes. Pour the batter into the pans.
Step
3
Bake for 25
minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let
the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature before frosting.
