Christmas or Holiday

Christmas Recipe: Tomato Cake w/Cream Cheese Frosting @VickiBatman #RLFblog

 Great Fruitcake Bake Off
Welcome Vicki Batman to the blog with a wonderful cake recipe that has a secret ingredient (tomato soup).
When I grew up, my mom and her family baked and crafted special
things at Christmas time. Mom and our neighbor spent a whole day making divinity,
and yes, it was divine. My sisters and I did Wrap-a-thon. My grandmother was known
for her special dessert: Tomato Cake.
Before you get all weirdly freaked out, know this: I am/was a
picky eater and I loved this cake. It does have tomato soup in it, but you know
what? If you didn’t know that was an ingredient, you’d love it too. There are spices,
nuts, raisins, and a decadent cream cheese frosting.
This year, I wrote a hilarious holiday story entitled “The
Great Fruitcake Bake-off.” I do like fruitcake. There are lots of varieties,
some of which don’t have the candied fruit we’ve come to associate with the treat.
Care to be daring and try a variation on Grandmother’s holiday
cake?

Tomato Cake

From Campbells
Soup: http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipes/tomato-soup-spice-cake-24354
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s®
Condensed Tomato Soup
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. Stir the
flour, sugar, baking powder, allspice, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves in a large
bowl. Add the soup, shortening, eggs and water. Beat with an electric mixer on low
speed just until blended. Increase the speed to high and beat for 4 minutes. Pour
the batter into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the
center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
Frost with:

Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ C crushed pineapple with juice
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla extract in a medium
bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until the mixture
is smooth and creamy. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar. Add the pineapple and juice,
1 tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is the desired consistency. Fill and
frost the cake.
This version is a tad different from Grandmother’s as it uses
eggs and my sissie likes the Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting. Grandmother added
raisins and chopped dates too.
And just to keep you hungry, here’s a fun excerpt from
“The Great Fruitcake Bake-off.” Happy Holidays to you and yours!

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About the Author

Like some of her characters, award-winning author, Vicki Batman has worked a wide variety of jobs including lifeguard, ride attendant at an amusement park; a hardware store, department store, book store, antique store clerk; administrative assistant in an international real estate firm; and a general “do anything gal” at a financial services firm–the list is endless.

Writing for several years, she has completed three manuscripts, written essays, and sold many short stories to True Love, True Romance, True Confessions, Noble Romance Publishing, Long And Short Reviews, and Museitup Publishing. She is a member of RWA and several writing groups and chapters. In 2004, she joined DARA and has served in many capacities, including 2009 President. DARA awarded her the Robin Teer Memorial Service Award in 2010.

Most days begin with her hands set to the keyboard and thinking “What if??”

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