In this article
Tomato soup cake comes out of the 1930s, when eggs were dear, milk was not to be wasted on a cake, and a can of condensed tomato soup cost a few cents and sat in every cupboard. Some cook figured out that the soup could do the work of the milk. It is thick, sweet and a little acid, and it turns a plain spice batter a deep russet red. The recipe ran in community cookbooks for fifty years, usually under a name that gave nothing away.
The reason it works is chemistry nobody in the thirties bothered to name. Condensed tomato soup is mostly tomato, sugar and a little starch, so it brings moisture and body. Its acid meets the baking soda and foams, and that reaction lifts the cake and tenderizes the crumb. The cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves cover any trace of tomato, and the raisins and walnuts finish the job. What is left is a spice cake redder, moister and more tender than any made with milk.
The old cooks had one trick worth keeping. The baking soda is stirred into the soup first, in a bowl by itself, where it foams up pink. That foam goes into the creamed butter and sugar. And the frosting is cream cheese, always, the only thing sharp enough to stand up to the spice and the sweetness.
Why this tomato soup cake works
- One can of condensed tomato soup. It replaces the milk, adds body and color, and its acid gives the crumb a tenderness that milk cannot.
- Soda stirred into the soup first. Meeting the acid in the bowl, the soda foams up and starts lifting the batter before it reaches the pan.
- Three warm spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in real quantities cover the tomato and make it a spice cake, not a curiosity.
- Cream cheese frosting. Tangy and cool against the warm spice, it is the only frosting that suits this cake.
Ingredients
Makes one 9 by 13 inch cake, about 16 squares, or one two-layer 8-inch cake. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the cake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), softened
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (250g)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- One can of condensed tomato soup (10 3/4 ounces, 305g), undiluted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup raisins (150g)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (115g)
- Butter and flour for the pan
For the cream cheese frosting
- One 8 ounce block full-fat cream cheese (226g), softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (57g), softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (300g)
Use plain condensed tomato soup, straight from the can with no water added. Toss the raisins in a tablespoon of the measured flour so they do not sink.
How to make tomato soup cake
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 9 by 13 inch pan, or two 8-inch round pans with a circle of parchment in the bottom of each.
- Whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt together in a bowl. Toss the raisins in a tablespoon of this mixture.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together with a mixer on medium for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl.
- Empty the can of soup into a medium bowl, sprinkle the baking soda over it and stir. It will foam up pink and thick, nearly doubling in volume. Pour the foaming soup into the butter mixture and beat on low just until combined.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing on low or folding with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. The batter will be thick and a deep reddish brown. Fold in the raisins and the walnuts.
- Spread the batter into the pan, or divide it between the round pans, and smooth the top. Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes for the 9 by 13, 25 to 30 for the layers, until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the sheet cake completely in its pan, about 1 hour. Cool layers 15 minutes in their pans, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely. Frosting a warm cake is the one mistake this recipe does not forgive.
- For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, beat in the vanilla, then add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and beat until fluffy. Spread over the sheet cake, or fill and frost the layers. Cut into 16 squares.
Tips that make the difference
- Beat the butter and sugar the full 3 to 4 minutes. With only two eggs and a heavy batter, that air matters.
- Once the soup foams, keep moving. The lift is strongest in the first few minutes, so get the cake into the oven promptly.
- Watch the corners of the 9 by 13 pan; they finish first, and the center can need 5 minutes more.
- Chill the frosted cake 30 minutes before cutting for clean squares.
Variations
- Loaf or square pan. The old cards often called for a loaf. Use two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pans for 45 to 50 minutes, or a 9-inch square pan for 40 to 45 minutes.
- Dates instead of raisins. Chopped dates were the other Depression-era fruit and they make a darker, richer cake.
- No nuts. Leave the walnuts out, or use pecans, which many Southern cooks preferred.
- Brown butter frosting. Beat 1/4 cup browned butter with 2 cups powdered sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons milk for a caramel-tasting frosting that also suits the spice.
Storage and make-ahead
With cream cheese frosting, the cake keeps in the refrigerator, covered, for 5 days. Many think it is better on day two, when the spices have settled.
Unfrosted, the cake keeps at room temperature under a dome for 3 days and freezes well for 3 months, wrapped in plastic and foil. Frost it after thawing.
Frosted squares can be frozen on a tray until firm, then wrapped individually. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Frequently asked questions
Can you taste the tomato in tomato soup cake?
No. The cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves cover it completely, and the soup itself is mild and sweet. People taste an unusually moist, tender spice cake. Most only believe you when they see the empty can.
Why does the baking soda go into the soup first?
Because the soup is acidic and the soda reacts with it at once, foaming up pink. Mixing them first starts the reaction evenly through the batter and gives a lighter, more even rise than adding the soda dry with the flour.
Do I add water to the soup?
No. The soup goes in exactly as it comes out of the can, undiluted. It replaces the milk in the recipe, so adding water would make the batter too thin.
Can I make this as a layer cake?
Yes. Divide the batter between two buttered and floured 8-inch round pans and bake 25 to 30 minutes. Fill and frost with the cream cheese frosting. A handsome cake for a family reunion.
Cream the butter well, foam the soda in the soup, spice it hard, frost it with cream cheese, and say nothing until the plates are clean. Then decide whether you tell them at all.
Tomato Soup Cake (The 1930s Spice Cake Nobody Can Taste)
The old-fashioned tomato soup spice cake: one can of condensed tomato soup, butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, raisins and walnuts, in a 9 by 13 pan or two 8 inch layers, with cream cheese frosting. Nobody can taste the tomato.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g), softened
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- One can of condensed tomato soup (10 3/4 ounces, 305g), undiluted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- Butter and flour for the pan
- One 8 ounce block full-fat cream cheese (226g), softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (57g), softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 9 by 13 inch pan, or two 8-inch round pans with a circle of parchment in the bottom of each.
- Whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt together in a bowl. Toss the raisins in a tablespoon of this mixture.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together with a mixer on medium for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl.
- Empty the can of soup into a medium bowl, sprinkle the baking soda over it and stir. It will foam up pink and thick, nearly doubling in volume. Pour the foaming soup into the butter mixture and beat on low just until combined.
- Add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing on low or folding with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. The batter will be thick and a deep reddish brown. Fold in the raisins and the walnuts.
- Spread the batter into the pan, or divide it between the round pans, and smooth the top. Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes for the 9 by 13, 25 to 30 for the layers, until the top springs back when pressed and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the sheet cake completely in its pan, about 1 hour. Cool layers 15 minutes in their pans, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely. Frosting a warm cake is the one mistake this recipe does not forgive.
- For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, beat in the vanilla, then add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and beat until fluffy. Spread over the sheet cake, or fill and frost the layers. Cut into 16 squares.
