Ugly duckling from the kitchen
What will become of this mess, I wonder.
Tomato soup goo
This was my 2nd time making this. The first time I made the error of using a silicone cake pan. The batter is so heavy (or there’s so much of it) that the pan lopsided — and I also had to bake it for 1.5 times longer! (I hate the silicone pan…) This time I’d bought brand new pans (two small ones because I thought they were cute) so I’m hoping the result is better.
I made the Pioneer Woman variation of the cake where she decided to mix in a cup of raisins. I love raisins!
Here’s what you need:
- 4 tablespoons butter (or shortening/crisco as in the original); by the way, who measures butter in spoonfuls? I put around 57 grams (used a butter converter so I hope that was somewhat correct)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cans (10.75 oz. each, or roughly 2 x 300 g) condensed tomato soup; the cans I’ve found are a bit under 300 g even though they are Campbell’s just like in the original recipe. Apparently, everything is bigger in America…
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- ½ teaspoons ground cloves
First you mix the soup and soda in a bowl, at which point it’ll become quite foamy (be sure to use a big enough bowl). Set it aside.
Next, cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl. I used my favourite kitchen gadget, a poor man’s Kitchenaid. (Sorry, I forgot to take an action photo so here it’s all alone without the bowl and paddle which I washed already!)
My deliciously red mixer
Next you mix in the tomato goo (with the sugar and butter, into the mixer bowl). And then the flour and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves). If you want, add a cup of raisins. I used whatever nice-looking raisins I found at the store. They didn’t have any golden ones, just plain black sultanas.
Put the batter in a greased pan (I used two 1.2 litre pans, which turned out to be a bit too small because the batter spilled over from the centre), even out the surface, and cook in 350°F (around 175°C) for 45–55 minutes.
The finished cake; still ugly (because of the cook) but I assure you it tastes great!
It stuck to the pan a bit (always does! I can never cook a cake properly.) so I have to be more patient with the other one…
I didn’t make any icing (don’t really care for icing) but if you’re feeling like it, check out the Tasty Kitchen or Pioneer Woman recipe.