If you’ve never heard of tomato cake, buckle up—because this vintage gem is about to turn your dessert expectations upside down. Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like ketchup.
Table of Contents
- 🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- 🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
- 🔪 Step-by-step guide: how to make tomato cake
- 💭 Insider tips: things to know
- 🥫 Leftover love: how to store tomato cake
- 👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
- 📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- 📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
- 🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose tomato cake
- 📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Save this recipe by clicking on the ❤️ heart on the right-hand side of the screen or in the recipe card.
Back in the Great Depression, when eggs and dairy were a luxury and creativity was key, resourceful bakers turned to an unexpected ingredient—tomato juice. The result? A surprisingly moist, cinnamon-spiced cake with just a whisper of tang that makes you wonder why we don’t put tomatoes in all our desserts.
My Aunt Lenore swore by this recipe, insisting it was the secret to her eternal youth (though we’re pretty sure that was just her stubborn refusal to acknowledge birthdays). One bite, and you’ll understand why this nostalgic cake has stood the test of time—it’s sweet, spicy, and just the right amount of quirky.
🗝️ Key takeaways: why this recipe is your new favorite
- This cherished vintage recipe is easy on the budget and proves the best desserts can come from unexpected ingredients!
- Serve tomato cake as a summery dessert or afternoon treat with coffee or tea—it's a great pick-me-up whenever needed.
- Tomato juice adds moisture, richness, and depth to this eggless cake recipe. And, before you ask, no, you can't tell there's tomato in it!
Move aside, zucchini bread—tomato cake is a comforting dessert that’s as delightful as it is unique. This moist, tender cake blends the warm flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and allspice for sweet flavor in every bite.
🧾 Gather your ingredients: what you'll need
This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.
🔪 Step-by-step guide: how to make tomato cake
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to see it full size.
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add a third of the flour mixture.
Alternate adding the flour mixture with the tomato juice.
Spread the batter into the loaf pan and bake.
💭 Insider tips: things to know
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the tomato juice, and mix on low until just combined. This method helps hydrate the flour and prevents overmixing.
- To keep the cake moist and tender, it must be baked at a low temperature for about 45 minutes. Resist the temptation to increase the temperature and reduce the baking time!
- Let the cake cool before dusting it with powdered sugar. Otherwise, the sugar will melt and absorb into the cake.
- Turn this recipe into a layered cake using two 6x2-inch round cake pans or about a dozen cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
Marye's Tip o' the day
Make sure your tomato juice is free of lumps so it blends well with the dry ingredients. You don’t want to bite into a chunk of tomato!
🥫 Leftover love: how to store tomato cake
Store leftover tomato cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.
Like many loaf cakes, tomato cake freezes well. Wrap the whole cake or individual slices in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, then store them in a freezer-safe bag or container. If you slice before freezing add parchment paper between the slices. It will be fine for three months or so.
Thaw frozen tomato cake overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for a few hours.
Enjoy tomato cake at room temperature or warm it slightly in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
🤫 Marye's secret for zhuzhing it up
For an extra sweet finish, garnish your tomato cake with classic whipped cream cheese frosting or the decadent maple cream cheese frosting from my spice cake recipe.
zhuzh: verb. To make something more interesting or attractive
👩🍳 Let's answer those questions: FAQs
Have other questions? Ask me in the comments!
Tomato cake uses tomato soup, juice, or puree as a key ingredient. It was a popular recipe during the Great Depression and World War II when ingredients like eggs and milk were hard to come by. Home bakers had to get creative and turned to inexpensive pantry staples, like canned tomato products, for their recipes.
Not at all! The tomato adds moisture, a slight tang, and a rich color, but its flavor disappears. It ends up tasting like a delicious classic spice cake!
If you have to, you can replace the ½ cup of butter with six tablespoons of neutral oil, like canola or vegetable oil. However, you can’t cream oil and sugar, so know that the texture of your cake may be a bit denser if you use oil rather than butter.
Sure! Here's a fun fact: a 9x5-inch loaf pan holds the same amount of batter as two 6x2-inch round cake pans! Since cake pans are shallower than loaf pans, they take less time to bake, about 10-15 minutes. Then, stack, fill, and frost!
Absolutely! You can make 12 to 16 regular-sized cupcakes, depending on how big you want them to be. Check for doneness around the 15-minute mark since cupcakes bake much more quickly than 9x5 loaves. Pipe some cream cheese frosting on top, and enjoy.
⏲️ Marye's time saving hacks -
You can make the batter up to 24 hours in advance and store it covered in the fridge. Before baking, let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes so it rises evenly.
📖 Make it your own: yummy variations
- Add 1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts for a nutty crunch!
- Add 1 cup of raisins or dried cranberries.
- Use other warm spices like ground cardamom, nutmeg, or ginger.
- Buy tomato juice from the grocery store or make it yourself with fresh cherry tomatoes. Cut 'em into small pieces, simmer on the stovetop until soft and juicy, then strain through a fine sieve.
📚 More Southern comfort: related recipes you'll love
🍽️ No waste: creative ways to repurpose tomato cake
Leftover tomato cake is versatile and can be turned into creative, indulgent treats!
- Cake Truffles: To make bite-sized treats, crumble the cake, mix it with a bit of frosting, roll it into balls, and dip in melted chocolate.
- Cake Parfaits. Layer crumbled cake with whipped cream, yogurt, or pudding and fresh fruit for an easy dessert.
- Bread Pudding. Turn leftover tomato cake into a rich, spiced bread pudding by soaking cake chunks in a custard mixture and baking.
- Ice Cream Topping. Crumble the cake over vanilla or caramel ice cream with a caramel or chocolate syrup drizzle.
- Toasted Cake Croutons. Cut the tomato cake into cubes, toast them in the oven, then use them as a crunchy topping for yogurt or pudding.
📞 Wrapping it up: the last word
This is from the family recipe box - my aunt's recipe from the Great Depression. The original recipe called for just one tablespoon of butter (because it was important to conserve ingredients) but I've adjusted it to be a bit richer and more delicious.
You'll notice there are no eggs called for, either! My recipe tester said this, "Way to go Aunt Lenore!! I was totally skeptical of this cake. But once again- I was over the moon with the flavors!!"
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Aunt Lenore's Tomato Cake
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup tomato juice, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup butter, room temperature but not melty
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with no stick baking spray. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Mix flour, baking powder and spices.
- Add baking soda to tomato juice.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar.
- Mix well on low speed.
- Add ½ of the tomato juice mixture, mixing well.
- Repeat the steps, alternating the flour and tomato juice, and ending with the flour.
- Spoon into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake at 300℉ for 40-45 minutes in a greased loaf pan.
- Cool and dust with confectioner's sugar.
Notes
-
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the tomato juice, and mix on low until just combined. This method helps hydrate the flour and prevents overmixing.
-
- To keep the cake moist and tender, it must be baked at a low temperature for about 45 minutes. Resist the temptation to increase the temperature and reduce the baking time!
-
- Let the cake cool before dusting it with powdered sugar. Otherwise, the sugar will melt and absorb into the cake.
-
- Turn this recipe into a layered cake using two 6x2-inch round cake pans or about a dozen cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
Jen says
Made recipe as written, very moist and great flavor!
Marye says
It's a really unique cake! I'm so glad you liked it.