The cake? It is just an old fashioned cake recipe and has stood the test of time. I'm not sure if it's made much these days, it sounds a bit too strange! It's a cake from the depression era with the Tomato Soup replacing the milk and egg and shortening replacing butter, all hard to come by during the depression.
There is one very odd memory connected to this cake. Nancy would wrap pennies in wax paper and sink them into the uncooked batter. Naturally we thought that was 'amazing', but now, as a know-it-all adult, I am flabbergasted! Can you believe that we never broke a tooth or swallowed a penny? Have you ever heard of doing that?
I did research the idea and it turns out it was started in Canada and still popular today.
What of Nancy? She came daily to the house to get our breakfast, get us off to school, do the housework and greet us after school. Not sure, but I think she made supper too. Our combined memories are that she was talkative, easy to get along with, a redhead, didn't drive, lived with her mother and enjoyed sweets. She
l-o-v-e-d Oreos and Ron would often come home from school with far less cookies than when he left.
Addendum: If you think you'd like to add an egg or substitute butter for shortening here is the modern day adaptation. Without the egg, the cake works, but it is a bit dense. Here is the egg, butter version.
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 10.75-ounce can of tomato soup
- Optional: 1/3 cup raisins and 1/3 cup chopped nuts
Step 1: Sift the dry ingredients
Step 2: Blend the butter, sugar and egg
Step 3: Add the dry mixture and the soup
Step 4: Bake