Baked Sunday Mornings: Tomato Soup Cupcakes with Mascarpone Frosting

SECRET INGREDIENT:  TOMATO SOUP

The Epicurean Table that "there were those who believed this enticing, bright red fruit had aphrodisiac powers, as did the French, who called it pomme d'amour or love apple though this is believed to be an alteration from the Spanish pome dei moro or apple of the moors."   With the red color and spice combination I was expecting something like love or party.  

The first canned tomato soup became available in 1876 and creative cooks have been finding ways for its use since that time.  And creative is what this recipe is. Sometimes I wonder who thinks up recipes that use unusual ingredients.  In the case of this cupcake recipe using tomato soup, I wonder if Campbell’s had a bake-off during the depression era when home bakers found ways to use pantry items creatively.  I know that I, personally, would have never dreamed up using a couple of cans of tomato soup as a major ingredient in cakes.  I wonder if someone made a mistake and it turned out OK???  Just wondering.  (Tomato Soup Cakes seem to have been popular back during The Great Depression.)

I love other veges in cakes like carrot cake or zucchini cake, and a fall favorite is pumpkin cake.   Even though these ingredients seem normal to me for cake, I know that they are not normal for baking use in other countries.  When we have had dinner guests from Asia or Eastern Europe, my ingredient list baffles them.

THEY DISAPPEARED WITHIN THE HOUR

When I challenged hubby to figure out the strange ingredient when he was acting as a taster for this recipe he guessed pumpkin...I told him to look better at the color and he asked if it had pureed carrot; he would have never guessed tomato.

I noticed the tomato flavor as a bit of after taste, but the cupcake as a whole reminded me more of a spice cake.  The Mascarpone Cheese frosting was a nice addition and was a good choice to compliment the tomato soup cupcake flavor.

We had extra tasters; family and friends coming home for semester break at college, and they all loved the cupcakes. My Frolicking Night Owl daughter stopped by for a taste and we agreed that this tomato cupcake would be a good addition to our Fall fare...the color and spice flavors compliment the usual October-November baking flavors.

It was fun to bake these cupcakes and to see if anyone could guess the tomato addition...no one did...but I’ll probably let this recipe sit until the holidays and on a day when I feel rather adventurous, I’ll make them again.   Or, if one of the grandkiddies has not been eating their vegetables, maybe we’ll have to sneak tomato soup into their cakes sometime soon.

GOOD ENOUGH FOR HOLIDAY BAKING