Well, sort of.
(I was so excited by the prospect of participating in my first food blogging event, that I entered terrrrrribly early with my Diet Coke Cake -- thank you, again, AK! -- and figured I should enter something else closer to the 22nd.)
This month's theme, thanks to Alanna, the Veggie Evangelist, is SURPRISE INSIDE. I thought it might be fun to interpret this theme by using an unexpected fruit or vegetable ingredient. Zucchini in a sweet quick bread seemed too obvious, but...
Tomato soup?
A little culinary history...
What would become the Campbell Soup Company was founded in 1869. Around the turn of the century, Americans began purchasing 10 ounce cans of tomato soup for a dime a piece. The company issued cookbooks in the early 20th century which included a rather peculiar dessert: tomato soup cake.
From the Campbell Soup Company website:
The idea to use condensed soup in recipes originated in a cookbook entitled "Helps for the Hostess" that was published in 1916. [C]ooking with soup remains so popular that Americans use more than 440 million cans each year in a variety of easy-to-prepare recipes. Campbell’s Soup ranks behind only meat/poultry, pasta, and seasonings/spices as the ingredient most often used to prepare dinner each evening.I found a similar (vegan!) recipe in Sarah Kramer's "La Dolce Vegan!" and altered it a bit for my own taste.
(Muchos gracias to my friend, Alicia, who was a gracious hostess and saved the day with her gorgeous KitchenAid mixer and spacious, well-lit kitchen!)
TOMATO SOUP CUPCAKES
Recipe inspired by: Sarah Kramer (via Rene from Ottawa, Ontario)
Serves 12
10 ounces condensed tomato soup
1 cup turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
8 ounces cream-cheese (vegan, if you prefer)
2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray cupcake tin with non-stick cooking spray. Mix soup, sugar, and oil until uniform. In separate bowl, mix flour, soda, baking powder, and spices. Combine wet ingredients with dry and mix to combine. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 17-20 minutes, or when tester comes out clean. Meanwhile, blend cream cheese and sugar together to create icing. Dip tops of cooled cupcakes into icing to frost.
More pictures to be found here.
Update: Perhaps after the many emails I've received, I should mention how they actually tasted! I'd say that they were rich in flavor like a good spice cake, quite moist, but a bit spongy until they'd been cooled in the fridge. Alicia and I weren't sure why this was, as she's an ol' pro at vegan baking and hadn't run into this problem before. Most vegan cakes we've made incorporate vinegar, however, so perhaps the omission had something to do with it? Other than that, they were delicious -- and yes, you could detect a bit of the tomato soup, but it's a taste that you wouldn't necessarily identify without knowing it was in there. The icing, of course, was decadent.
Enjoy, and happy Sugar High Friday!
10 comments:
I kiss your hem! Tomato soup, for real?! How was the taste and texture? I'm betting they were really moist? Very nice for SHF, your 1B entry! Look for the round-up over the weeked.
Thank you, AK -- I look forward to the round-up!
(And yes, they were very moist!)
I've heard of making tomato soup cake but have never actually seen it done!
What a great post! I loved the Campbell's soup info, and the photos are fabulous.
Hi Brilynn--
Thanks for stopping by! I had heard of this recipe for a while but was happy to finally get around to making it. I recommend it!
Wow. That's an amazing recipe - I'd have never thunk it! They remind me of red velvet cake - esp. with the pretty, creamy cream-cheese icing!
I think I can safely say that I've never seen cupcakes made with tomato soup. To say these are interesting just doesn't seem like enough.
By the way, thanks for visiting my blog and introducing me to yours!
Beautiful photography. And the tomato soup cupcake idea? Inspired.
As soon as I saw the title: "Tomato Soup Cupcakes", it immediately reminded me of my Gramma and her stories of cooking through the World Wars. Thanks for bringing on such great memories!
Jennifer: I love your blog! I've tagged a few of your recipes to make soon. Thanks for stopping by!
Karina: Thank you for the props! I'm just learning how to take a picture. I love my camera more than just about anything.
Josie: You're more than welcome! Both of my grandmothers have passed away and I wish I could have gotten to know them better and heard their cooking tales.
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