Chocolate Tomato Soup Cake??

 

I have been eyeing this cake for years. 

It is from one of my harder recipe books, which i am always hesitant to use.
Also the fact that tomato soup is an ingredient led me to believe that Robby Bobby would turn his nose up at it.

But the picture was so pretty and the tomato idea so interesting, that i kept thinking about it.

I even bought the chocolate wafer cookies in the pic months ago, with this cake in mind.

SO last week i asked Robby, "What do you think of this cake?  It has tomato soup in it."  To my utter surprise he said, "Yes, please."

After I sent him to the store to get me the soup, I jumped in to try this crazy cake.

The recipes in this book are usually all strange and complicated.  Luckily this cake was super easy, still a little weird though.

First you need to make the ganache.  This will give it time to cool and set a bit while you are making the cakes.
Ganache is really easy and has a deliciously rich silky texture.  After a bit of practice, in knowing when it is ready to spread, it can also be one of the most impressive.

Mystery Ganache:
2 tbs tomato soup
8 oz semi sweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
1/2 cup heavy cream (scalded)

All you have to do is scaled the cream then mix in the tomato soup.
Simply pour it over the chocolate and let it sit.

Stir it a bit after 5 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes after until it is smooth.

 

Place in fridge to cool faster, but remember to stir it every 30 min or parts will harden while other parts will remain liquid.

Tomato Soup Cake:
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup tomato soup (condensed)
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3 cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 sticks butter (softened)

(This recipe is weird.  There is no creaming of the butter and sugar like in a regular recipe.  You also add the butter to the dry almost like you are making a crust.  But trust, it comes out fabu in the end.)
Mix cocoa and tomato soup and vanilla.

In separate bowl mix remaining dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and baking powder/soda).
Add eggs and beat until smooth.

Mix butter into dry ingredients. 
Add tomato/cocoa mixture. 
Beat until just combined.

Bake in two greased 8"pans at 350 for 40 minutes.

Set aside, on wire rack, to cool.

After the cakes are very cool and the ganache has the consistency of soft butter you are ready to assemble the cake.

Trim each cake into two equal layers.

(you can eat the leftover pieces . . . .I won't tell!)(I made Robby a cake trash sandwich out of the trimmings and a little of the ganache.)

Start layering the cake with ganache on the plate and in between each layer.  You can tell that my ganache was ready in the pic below.  See how it is holding in the center of the cake and not running all over the place.

Keep going, making sure to reserve enough ganache to cover the cake in the end. 
As you stack you can also let the ganache spread around to the sides to make it easier to finish later.

The final step is to surround the cake with the wafer cookies.
I just broke them to various heights.

Ta Da.
Believe me when I say it was delicious.
The tomato provides the salt but also takes on a sweet flavor.
(Reminds me of the tomato candies we got when we were in Japan.  Almost tasted like an under ripe strawberry.)

 

 

 

try it!!

 

 

 

 

Spring hasn't Sprung

It is officially spring.  Even though it is still pretty wintry i can see some crocuses peeping out in the park and i hear some birds from our bedroom in the morning.

Of course spring means Easter, and Easter means opportunity for fun!

I made modified deviled eggs, two desserts, and an Easter bread. 
Since i made so many things i am only going to give an overview.  If anyone wants the full recipes you can email me.  The next post will be one cake full recipe . . .I promise.  (I have it all ready to write . . .I am so behind!!)

EGGS:  SPRING PEA DEVILED EGGS
It is Easter right . . . so you gotta make something with hard boiled eggs!!  For some reason i got it into my head to make deviled eggs. 

My sister in law, Aimee, make this great spring-time guacamole for St. Pat's (bc it was green).  It had pureed peas in it.  SO i took that idea and incorporated it into my eggs.

1. First step is to boil the eggs.

• I've has a hard time lately peeling eggs nicely so i followed a new cooking technique that seemed to work:  place eggs in 1" of cold water.  Bring to bare simmer.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Shock in cold water and leave to cool.  They peeled pretty good.  I only lost 1 1/2.

• Next I threw the yolks into my food processor with some cooked pees.  Then I added mayo, sour cream, paprika, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.  (I would suggest not adding the sour cream bc it made my filling too loose.)

• They were a hit!  Of course i forgot to take a final pic :-(

Dessert 1: KEY LIME CAKE
I feel like spring time you need something bright and sunny for dessert, so i tend towards something with citrus. 

Since we just got back from our trip to Miami and Key west I had a great idea to do a Key Lime Pie . . . . in a cake version. 

(KEY WEST SUNSET)

This one is an Olivia original recipe and it turned out wonderfully.

• First you need to make the key lime curd. 
• I used the filling recipe from my "Silky Lemon Pie" post, and just used lime juice instead of lemon juice. 
• I also cooked it on the stove top instead of in the oven. 
• After it cooled I added 1 cup of whipped cream to make the filling more apt for cake use.

• Next you need to make the cakes. 
• I used my recipe for S'mores cake, which I will share with you at the appropriate camping time. 
• This recipe uses graham cracker crumbs in lieu of flour, which is ridiculously fun.  Since Key Lime Pies use graham cracker crusts i figured this was perfect for this cake!! 
• The only thing i changed from the original recipe was the addition of lime zest to the batter.

• (Robby bought the most retro looking beat up box of graham cracker crumbs he could find at the store! )

• The final step is to make the icing and then layer and decorate the cake. 
• I used my red velvet cake frosting, bc it is the best frosting ever!  It consists of vanilla whipped cream folded into sweetened mascarpone cheese. 
• I again used my decorating gun and covered the cake in star tip swirls, which make the cake look like it is covered in roses

• For the final decorating step I candied some lime slices and one lime peel for a rose.
• 

Dessert 2:  CARAMELIZED COCONUT CUSTARD TART
For some reason I also always associate coconut with Easter . . .
I am not sure why really . . .
IS it bc you can die it green and it looks like grass? 
Or put it on a bunny cake and it looks like fur? 

Let me know if you can think of a reason for this association. 

Again, since we were just in Miami, i was thinking of doing some kind of Latin American coconut thing, influenced by our trip to little Havana.

(CUBAN FOOD IN LITTLE HAVANA)

So I made a Caramelized Coconut Custard Tart.

• First step is the tart shell. 
• I, again, did a 'qucik' crust in the food processor. 
• Since the recipe said to do a 12" . . . that's right 12" . . . tart pan i did 1 1/2 cups flour to 1 1/2 stick butter with 1/4 cup water and 1 tbs sugar.

• The only pain with this recipe is that it required you to par bake the shell, which annoys me, but it has to be done! Bake at 350 for 20 min . . .with pie weights . . . let cool



• The next step is to make the vanilla custard for the bottom of the pie.  In all honesty this recipe was very weird and i am not sure if i would recommend it, although the final product was pretty tasty. 
• To make the custard you need:
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean,
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks with the flour and vanilla seeds until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Scrape the custard into a medium bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard and let cool.

•  Spread the custard in the tart shell in an even layer.

• In a large skillet, toss 1 bag shredded coconut with the 1 1/2 cups brown sugar over moderately high heat, stirring, until the coconut becomes translucent, about 1 minute. Spread the shredded coconut over the custard in an even layer.
• Bake the tart for about 45 minutes, until the coconut is richly browned. Transfer the tart to a rack and let cool to warm or room temperature

EASTER BREAD: Easter breads are a fun tradition that, depending on your ethnic background, can take all shapes and sizes. 

My mom makes a sweet bread with colored eggs woven into the braids.  I have tried this in the past, but this year i opted to do something different and I got a recipe from my coworker/friend's Mom. 

I am calling it a Russian Easter bread and it was a hit.  You also make a 'cheese' spread to go with it.  It is kinda weird but delicious.  (Thanks Ana's Mom.)

OK that is it for Easter . . . . . text time is chocolate TOMATO cake?!