Vintage Tomato Soup Layer Cake Recipe

By now, if you are a regular follower of my food blog, you have probably detected that I like vintage foods and those that could be called comfort foods.

I grew up with tomato soup cake as standard fare in the household. It’s such a simple cake and, while it may seem bizarre to add a can of tomato soup to cake batter, it’s really tasty when some spices are added. The tomato soup cake my mother used to make was always a single layer (and always made in the pyrex glass 8″ square baking pan). It was never frosted and was generally considered to be an “every day cake” as opposed to a cake for a special occasion.  My mother’s cake was rather dense in texture and contained no eggs. Spices consisted of cinnamon and cloves.

Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

I have used my mother’s recipe as inspiration but have completely revamped the recipe to turn this cake into a more decadent dessert.  I’ve added eggs for lightness, moisture, and a tender crumb and added some molasses and a small amount of nutmeg for added flavour.  A hefty dose of cream cheese frosting takes a plain old basic cake to new heights. On top of great flavour, the cake has a beautiful rusty-orange color.

Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

I bake this cake in two 8″ round pans and the batter will rise to the very top of each pan.  Nine-inch (9″) round pans can also be used but the cakes will obviously not be quite as thick and the baking time will need to be adjusted as they will take slightly less time to bake than the 8″ cakes.  I highly recommend using bake even strips, dampened and wrapped snugly around each pan – these help to keep cakes even as they bake as opposed to tops that have peaks and valleys.  These strips really do make a difference.  That said, though, there is usually some leveling that still has to take place on the cakes and, for this, I recommend a cake leveler or, alternatively, you can use a serrated knife.  Make sure both cakes are the same height and that any loose crumbs are brushed from the cakes before frosting.

Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

(Printable recipe follows at end of post)

Tomato Soup Layer Cake

Ingredients:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2¾ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg
⅔ cup shortening, softened to room temperature
1⅓ cups sugar
2 large eggs (at room temperature for 15-20 minutes)
1 – 10 oz can tomato soup
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp molasses

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F and position rack in center of oven.

Prepare two 8” round cake pans by greasing the pans and lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper .

In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

In large bowl with mixer set at medium speed, cream the shortening and sugar together until well blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, combine the tomato soup, milk, and molasses.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the liquid ingredients, starting and ending with the flour mixture.  Beat well after each addition, scraping bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula as necessary to ensure all dry ingredients are incorporated.  Finally, beat batter one additional minute at medium-high speed.

Divide batter equally between the two prepared pans, spreading evenly.  Bake for apx.  38-40 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center of a cake comes out clean and cake springs back to a light finger touch.  Transfer cakes to wire rack and let cool in pans for 10 minutes. With the edge of a small flat-edged paring knife, gently loosen edges of each cake from the pans.  Invert cakes onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

Yield: 1 – 8” layer cake, apx. 10-12 servings

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp milk
1 lb sifted icing (confectioner’s/powdered) sugar (weighed after sifted)

Method:

With mixer set at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter or margarine until creamy and well-blended.  Beat in vanilla and milk.  Add about one-third of the icing sugar.  Beat well to blend.  Add remaining icing sugar in two separate additions, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl often with rubber spatula to ensure sugar is well blended into creamed mixture.  Beat for 1-2 minutes longer until frosting is smooth, light, and fluffy.

Yield:  Enough to fill and completely frost 1 – 8” or 1 – 9” layer cake.

To assemble cake:

Even each cake top by using a cake leveler or serrated knife, ensuring both cakes are the same height. Lightly brush away any loose crumbs remaining on the sides of the cakes.  Sandwich together the two cake layers with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting.  With the remaining frosting, cover the top of cake and, if desired, the sides or, alternatively, leave the sides without frosting for a more rustic looking cake.

Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

 

Vintage Tomato Soup Layer Cake

Yield: 1 - 8" layer cake, apx. 10-12 servings

A moist and flavorful spice cake with a tender crumb

Ingredients

  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2¾ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 2/3 cup shortening, softened to room temperature
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs (at room temperature for 15-20 minutes)
  • 1 – 10oz can tomato soup
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • Frosting:
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp milk
  • 1 lb sifted icing (confectioner’s/powdered) sugar (weighed after sifted)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and position rack in center of oven.
  2. Prepare two 8” round cake pans by greasing the pans and lining the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.
  3. In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
  4. In large bowl with mixer set at medium speed, cream the shortening and sugar together until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, combine the tomato soup, milk, and molasses.
  6. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the liquid ingredients, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat well after each addition, scraping bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula as necessary to ensure all dry ingredients are incorporated. Finally, beat batter one additional minute at medium-high speed.
  7. Divide batter equally between the two prepared pans, spreading evenly. Bake for apx. 38-40 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center of a cake comes out clean and cake springs back to a light finger touch. Transfer cakes to wire rack and let cool in pans for 10 minutes. With the edge of a small flat-edged paring knife, gently loosen edges of each cake from the pans. Invert cakes onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.
  8. Frosting:
  9. With mixer set at medium speed, beat cream cheese and butter or margarine until creamy and well-blended. Beat in vanilla and milk. Add about one-third of the icing sugar. Beat well to blend. Add remaining icing sugar in two separate additions, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl often with rubber spatula to ensure sugar is well blended into creamed mixture. Beat for 1-2 minutes longer until frosting is smooth, light, and fluffy.
  10. To assemble cake:
  11. Even each cake top by using a cake leveler or serrated knife, ensuring both cakes are the same height. Lightly brush away any loose crumbs remaining on the sides of the cakes. Sandwich together the two cake layers with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting. With the remaining frosting, cover the top of cake and, if desired, the sides or, alternatively, leave the sides without frosting for a more rustic looking cake.
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Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

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Tomato Soup Cake
Tomato Soup Cake

Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup Recipe

Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup
Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup

For many years, I have been making this hearty soup known as Goulash.  It’s a well-filled soup and is a very filling one! Good any time of the year, this soup is especially tummy-warming on cold days.

This soup is not difficult to prepare but there are vegetables to chop which does take a bit of time.  I have weighed the main ingredients in this recipe because I find that recipes that call for ingredients in bulk form such as 1 onion or 2 carrots or 2 stalks of celery are not very helpful, particularly for less experienced cooks.  For example, is the onion big or small? Does the recipe developer mean to use 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup, or 1 cup of onion? Then, of course, there is always the issue of how finely chopped the onion is meant to be – it takes a lot more onion that is finely chopped to fill a cup measure than it does if the onion is coarsely chopped. So, to simplify things and to help ensure success when making this soup, I am using weight as the main measurement for many of the ingredients. I use my digital kitchen scales all the time and could not get along without them.

My recipe calls for extra lean ground beef; however, if you prefer to use cubed stew beef, that also works in this dish.  I recommend, the first time making this soup, to make it exactly according to the amount of spices the recipe calls for then, next time, if you want it a bit more or less spicy, adjust the quantities accordingly.  The recipe also calls for tomato truffle ketchup.  If you can’t find this in your area, you can certainly substitute regular tomato ketchup; however, the truffle ketchup has earthy undertones that do contribute to the flavour of this rustic soup.

Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup
Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup

The beef broth/tomato base for this soup is incredibly tasty so it makes it a great soup to serve in a hollowed out bread bowl.  Break apart the bowl as you eat the soup and use the bits of bread to soak up the tasty juice of the soup.

Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup
Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup

This is a main meal, full deal kind of soup!

Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup
Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup

(Printable version of recipe follows at end of posting)

Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp. olive oil
5 oz. celery, chopped (apx. 2 stalks or 1 cup)
7 oz carrots, peeled and diced (apx. 2 carrots or 1½ cups)
5 oz. onion (1 cup – 1 large onion)
7 oz rutabaga, peeled and diced (apx. 1½ cups)
2 oz parsnip, peeled and thinly sliced (apx. 2/3 cup)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp paprika
½ tsp caraway seed
Pinch cayenne
1 bay leaf
1¼ lb extra lean ground beef
1 cup tomato paste
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with juice
2 tbsp tomato truffle ketchup
6 cups beef stock, heated
1½ tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
5 oz chopped zucchini (apx. 1 cups)
1 lb potatoes, peeled and diced (apx. 3 cups)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

In large soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the celery, carrots, onion, rutabaga, parsnip, garlic, spices and bay leaf.  Cook over medium-low heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the ground beef and scramble fry till no longer pink – about 8-10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, ketchup, beef stock, vinegar, brown sugar, zucchini, and potatoes.  Cover and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Remove and discard bay leaf.

To serve, ladle into bread bowls or soup bowls.

Yield: Apx. 12 – 1-cup servings

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Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup

Yield: 12 - 1-cup servings

A wholesome and filling beef and vegetable soup in a tomato-based sauce

Ingredients

  • 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 5 oz. celery, chopped (apx. 2 stalks or 1 cup)
  • 7 oz carrots, peeled and diced (apx. 2 carrots or 1½ cups)
  • 5 oz. onion (1 cup – 1 large onion)
  • 7 oz rutabaga, peeled and diced (apx. 1½ cups)
  • 2 oz parsnip, peeled and thinly sliced (apx. 2/3 cup)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • ½ tsp caraway seed
  • Pinch cayenne
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1¼ lb extra lean ground beef
  • 1 cup tomato paste
  • 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with juice
  • 2 tbsp tomato truffle ketchup
  • 6 cups beef stock, heated
  • 1½ tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 5 oz chopped zucchini (apx. 1 cups)
  • 1 lb potatoes, peeled and diced (apx. 3 cups)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. In large soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the celery, carrots, onion, rutabaga, parsnip, garlic, spices and bay leaf. Cook over medium-low heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the ground beef and scramble fry till no longer pink – about 8-10 minutes.
  2. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, ketchup, beef stock, vinegar, brown sugar, zucchini, and potatoes. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender, adding salt and pepper to taste. Remove and discard bay leaf.
  3. To serve, ladle into bread bowls or soup bowls.
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Goulash Soup
Hearty Goulash Soup
Rich and Hearty Goulash Soup