Thunder Cake

I loved the book "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco, when I was a kid. I loved the story, I loved the pictures, and I always wanted to bake a thunder cake.

In the story, a little girl and her grandmother gather all of the ingredients for a chocolate cake, and they have to bake it before it storms or it won't be a true Thunder Cake.



I always thought the pictures of the cake with strawberry slices on it looked SO good. One of things I wasn't sure about was the grandmother using tomatoes in the Thunder Cake. Now that's just crazy! But I always wanted to try it to see what it would taste like.

So, last week, I finally got around to it.



An abundance of fresh tomatoes are coming in from our garden, and it's overwhelming, so I decided to puree some of them and bake up a Thunder Cake. My recipe is adapted from the book. For mine, I didn't use shortening; I used oil. I also eliminated the water and increased the tomato puree. If you're going to put tomato in a cake, I say go for it! I also switched the flour to all-purpose and increased the leavening.

The result? A fabulous, fabulous Thunder Cake. Absolutely delicious and moist, and I couldn't taste the tomato at all. I think the tomato provided moisture and contributed to the cake's color. I made a simple ganache to pour and spread over the cake, because there isn't anything better than chocolate ganache.

Thunder Cake (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

3 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pureed tomatoes

Ganache
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans.

In a medium bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites (reserving the yolks) until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes; set aside.

In an additional medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together oil, butter and granulated sugar until well combined and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Beat in yolks, vanilla and tomato until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until combined, about 2 minutes; fold in egg whites until combined.

Divide batter into cake pans. Bake 33-37 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into cakes comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool pans on wire racks for 12 minutes; run a knife around outside edges and invert onto wire racks to cool completely.

To make the ganache, heat cream in s small saucepan over medium-low heat, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and whisk in chocolate until melted; whisk in butter, corn syrup and vanilla until combined. Pour and spread ganache over cooled cake layers.

Makes 10-12 servings