Gluten Free Tomato Soup Cake

First let me say, this cake tastes much better than it sounds! This recipe originated in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s. It was enormously popular throughout the depression as it is made without using eggs or butter.  It was sometimes called Mystery Cake and a game was made of making first time eaters guess the secret ingredient. It has a delightfully spicy flavor, making it almost impossible to discern that it is made with tomato soup.

I have made some adjustments to the recipe to make it a little healthier. I replaced the 1/2 cup of lard with 2 Tablespoons of shortening and replaced the sugar with honey.

Tomato Soup Cake

2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening (I like Spectrum non-hydrogenated, organic pressed palm oil)

¾ cup honey (you can substitute 1 cup sugar)

1 can condensed tomato soup (~10 3/4 oz. or ~300 g.), undiluted. If you can not find a gluten-free can of soup you can substitute this.

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups gluten free flour ( I used 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, and 1 t. xanthan gum)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, combine the honey and vegetable shortening. Add the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and condensed tomato soup to the mixing bowl and stir until all of the ingredients are fully combined.  Slowly add the flour to the mixing bowl in half cup increments, stirring well after each addition to ensure all of the flour is fully combined. Add baking powder, baking soda, and the walnuts to the mixing bowl. Continue stirring until all ingredients are fully incorporated into the  batter.

Pour the cake batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350F (about 175C) for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the  pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pan.

Once it is cooled you can top it with cream cheese frosting or serve it plain. I leave it plain if I am planning on packing it in lunches and top it with frosting if I will be serving it to guests. I halve the Cream Cheese and Butter Frosting recipe that I use on my Pumpkin Cookies when I frost the Tomato Soup Cake.

This cake tastes so wholesome that I do not feel guilty when I eat a slice! What are your guiltless pleasures? To view other guiltless gluten free recipes, visit Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.