HELOISE: Left-out items spice up recipe

Dear Readers: A while back, we printed a longtime family recipe for Tomato Soup Cake, or Conversation Cake. This is a recipe from my mother, the original Heloise, that was printed in the early 1960s and many times since. Some of you have written that it did not turn out well; others have said they liked it!

In this last printing, however, something got left out: the spices, which are optional. We have two versions, one “from scratch” and a quick one using a boxed cake mix. The cooking and editing gremlins must have gotten into the mix (yes, bad pun intended), and the spices that can be added did not get printed. Mea culpa, mea culpa, and, oh yes, how many ways can I say sorry? It turns out, two!

I have personally been retesting this recipe for weeks and have baked dozens of cakes: different brands of mix, different brands of tomato soup (the house brand was thinner than the national brand) and different “flavors” of cake mix. I used regular chocolate, German chocolate, dark chocolate, plain white and a yellow cake mix. The white and yellow looked a little orange, so I added a few drops of red food coloring to punch it up. This and the spices, plus a handful of raisins and 1/4 cup chopped nuts, made it taste like a carrot or spice cake.

A few observations from me: Spend a little extra money and use a national brand, both cake mix and soup. The batter will be very thick — yes, that is how it is supposed to be. If you like spice, add any or all, or vary the spices. Nuts and raisins do add texture and make it more like a spice or carrot cake. Any frosting or icing will work. Sometimes I used chocolate, other times white. To the white, I added some food coloring to half and did a Picasso design.

Once, I even put a few drops of red food coloring right on top of the batter in the pan, and then swirled with a knife for a colored, marbled look!

So, here it is again, with the “extras.” You probably know how it goes with recipes, especially family or hand-me-downs. Sometimes it seems the recipe gets lost in translation!

1 box cake mix

1 can tomato soup (undiluted)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

These ingredients are optional; any or all, depending on your taste:

11/2 teaspoons nutmeg

21/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup raisins

Put the dry cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Add the undiluted tomato soup, eggs and baking soda, and spices, nuts and raisins, if you prefer. Mix and bake according to cake-mix directions.

Heloise

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate