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So, after last week’s prune-chili sauce-gelatin debacle, I think we all need some comfort food. Since that was arguably the worst recipe we have ever made, I’ve decided to follow it up with the BEST recipe we have ever made here on the blog. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. You will not be disappointed!

I cannot resist cakes with weird ingredients. I just can’t. So, when I came across a recipe for a chocolate cake that had, as the “secret” ingredient, a can of condensed tomato soup, I knew I was going to have to make it.

The recipe came from a recent Salvation Army score comprised of ALL handwritten recipe cards and recipe clippings, sans boxes. There were about five or six collections of cards from different women, spanning the 1950’s-1990’s and I managed to snag them all for only $2. In this stack of wonderfulness, I came across the recipe for this Black Magic Cake with tomato soup twice; once handwritten from the 1970’s and another was a clipping from a grocery store handout from 1994.

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I did some research for this cake, because I was convinced that it must have it’s origins in a mid-century Campbell’s recipe. But I hit a dead-end. I even asked Sharon from the Flickr group, “Gee, That Food Looks Terrible” and she couldn’t put her finger on it, either. But what I know so far is this:  Cakes made with tomato soup are very common in Depression cooking, and are also common in mid-century cooking. Even though I can’t lock down the source or the exact year, this recipe could very well be from the 1960’s or even earlier. This recipe is also very similar to Hershey’s Black Magic Cake, which uses a cup of cold coffee instead of tomato soup, and I think the debut year for that recipe was 1934.

AuthorRetroRuth
Rating

Tested Recipe!

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 1 ¾ cups AP flouror 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
 2 cups sugar
 ¾ cup cocoa
 2 tsp baking soda
 1 tsp baking powder
 1 tsp salt
 2 eggs
 1 can condensed tomato soup
 1 cup buttermilk
 ½ cup oil
 1 tsp vanilla

1

Sift together the first 6 ingredients.

2

Add the next 5 ingredients, and beat on medium speed for 6 minutes.

3

Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan or 2 round cake pans.

4

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 mins. (start checking after 30 mins if making rounds)

5

*Note - This cake rises high, the batter almost doubles in size. Be sure to leave lots of room in your pans or cupcake tins or you will have a big mess on your hands!

Ingredients

 1 ¾ cups AP flouror 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
 2 cups sugar
 ¾ cup cocoa
 2 tsp baking soda
 1 tsp baking powder
 1 tsp salt
 2 eggs
 1 can condensed tomato soup
 1 cup buttermilk
 ½ cup oil
 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1

Sift together the first 6 ingredients.

2

Add the next 5 ingredients, and beat on medium speed for 6 minutes.

3

Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan or 2 round cake pans.

4

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 mins. (start checking after 30 mins if making rounds)

5

*Note - This cake rises high, the batter almost doubles in size. Be sure to leave lots of room in your pans or cupcake tins or you will have a big mess on your hands!

Black Magic Chocolate Cake

But I have to tell you I don’t care exactly where the recipe came from.  I know this is usually the part of the post where tell you how I felt while I was making the latest dish and trying to keep the end result a surprise, but this time I am letting the cat out of the soup can early and telling you that this cake was amazing.

I know, I am ruining this post, but I don’t care. This cake was just that good.

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I even made this cake twice in one week, because that is how good it was. I originally made the recipe exactly with no substitutions according to the rules here on the Mid-Century Menu, and I made it in a 13×9 pan because I was lazy and didn’t feel like frosting a layer cake.

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And the batter smelled bad. It smelled really bad! I have to admit that I didn’t have high hopes at this point. But then…

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It came out of the oven and the finished cake smelled so good, and it was so moist and delicious. And Tom kept eating so much of it.

“This cake is so good.”

“I know!”

“I am getting another piece.”

“No don’t! This is your third piece already. And it isn’t even 10:00 am yet!”

“I want it!”

“We have to get rid of this thing. It’s like tomato-chocolate-crack.”

Finally, we agreed that we had to send the cake away to be eaten by Tom’s co-workers, otherwise we were going to eat the whole thing by ourselves in two days.

But we couldn’t stop thinking about the cake. We daydreamed about it. We pined for it. We cursed the decision to give it away. And so, when our neighbors invited us over for dinner that Saturday, we knew exactly which cake we were going to make to take for dessert.

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Oh yes. It’s back!

This time I tweaked it a little, and it ended up being even better than the first one. It was moist, very chocolately, had an excellent depth of flavor provided by the tomato soup and it was very stable. I was easily able to bake it in two 8 inch layer pans, turn the cakes out with no problems AND split each layer with no turntable and just a serrated knife. The layers took quite a bit of flapping back and forth as I filled the cake, and never once cracked or crumbled. And this sucker stayed moist, too. Three days later I got an email from our neighbor who took leftover cake home, exclaiming on how moist the cake still was.

Total success.

But you don’t have to take just my word for it. You can also check out Tom’s face.

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From the first taste-test and…

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From the second tasting.

The Verdict: Amazing! Tom has decided this is his new favorite chocolate cake, and I am never to make a different one again. Ever.

AuthorRetroRuth
Rating

From Maid of Scandinavia

A fantastic, vintage bakery style cake frosting that makes a sugar “crust” when exposed to air.

Tested Recipe!

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 ½ cup shorteningor a combination of butter and shortening
 1 pound powdered sugar
 2 pasteurized egg whitesfrom a carton
 2 tbsp cake flour
 2 tsp vanilla
 3 tbsp milk

1

Cream shortening and sugar well.

2

Add egg whites and blend well.

3

Add flour, vanilla and 1 T milk at a time until the right consistency to spread.

4

Will frost a three-layer cake. Double recipe for filling and frosting for a three-layer cake.

Ingredients

 ½ cup shorteningor a combination of butter and shortening
 1 pound powdered sugar
 2 pasteurized egg whitesfrom a carton
 2 tbsp cake flour
 2 tsp vanilla
 3 tbsp milk

Directions

1

Cream shortening and sugar well.

2

Add egg whites and blend well.

3

Add flour, vanilla and 1 T milk at a time until the right consistency to spread.

4

Will frost a three-layer cake. Double recipe for filling and frosting for a three-layer cake.

Vintage Bakery Birthday Cake Frosting

AuthorRetroRuth
Rating

Tested Recipe!

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 ½ cup butter
 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
  tsp salt
 2 ⅓ cups sifted powdered sugar
  cup undiluted evaporated milk
 1 tsp vanilla

1

Melt the butter and chocolate together in the top of a double boiler. Remove from heat and beat in the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for two hours or until chilled but not hard. Beat with a rotary egg beater (or mixer) until frosting is the consistency you desire.

Ingredients

 ½ cup butter
 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
  tsp salt
 2 ⅓ cups sifted powdered sugar
  cup undiluted evaporated milk
 1 tsp vanilla

Directions

1

Melt the butter and chocolate together in the top of a double boiler. Remove from heat and beat in the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for two hours or until chilled but not hard. Beat with a rotary egg beater (or mixer) until frosting is the consistency you desire.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Frosting

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