Tomato sauce is secret to flavorful spice cake

We make cakes out of carrots, zucchini and a host of fruits, so why not tomatoes?

No reason not to, and in fact bakers have been using tomato sauce, condensed tomato soup and even ketchup to make cakes for generations.

Leona Kalima wrote in search of a "local recipe" for a tomato sauce cake, an intriguing request. Not that such cake is particularly "local." I found many versions, some developed by Hunt’s, the tomato sauce maker; Campbell’s, the soup maker; and Heinz, the ketchup maker.

They are generally spice cakes, although some are chocolate, and call for varying amounts of sugar, eggs and butter or vegetable oil. The spice flavors are invariably cinnamon and cloves. The tomato appears to act as applesauce would in an apple cake, providing sweetness and keeping the cake moist.

In search of a local version, though, I consulted my collection of "Favorite Island Cookery" books from the good ladies at the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin. Volume 1, published in 1973, includes this spice cake. It contains the most sugar, eggs and butter of any recipe I came across.

My test cake was quite successful, moist and nicely flavored. No one I served it to was able to identify tomato sauce as the key ingredient.

This recipe adapts the hongwanji recipe, combining elements from the Hunt’s version. I served it plain, but you could dress it up with a dusting of powdered sugar or a dab of whipped cream.

TOMATO SAUCE SPICE CAKE

3 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup raisins, optional
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and spices. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy; mix in eggs.

Stir baking soda into tomato sauce. Mixture will foam up; do not be alarmed. Add in small amounts to creamed butter mixture, alternating with flour mixture. Mix in orange juice. Fold in raisins and nuts, if using. Pour into baking pan. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until a pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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