Recipes: Spinach Loaf, Tomato Soup Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Spinach Loaf

Serves 8.

This recipe has been updated slightly from one in the 1937 "Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book." Don't be fooled by the long list of ingredients: It's pretty quick work. And the sauce is swell.

Loaf:

3 (10-oz.) pkgs. frozen chopped spinach, thawed

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1½ c. (6 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese

1½ tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

Hot pepper sauce to taste

Sauce:

½ c. chopped onion

¼ c. chopped green bell pepper

1 tbsp. flour

½ c. water

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped coarsely

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease an 8-by 4-inch loaf pan.

Put the thawed spinach in a sieve and drain, pressing several times. (But don't go nuts; leave it moist or it will be so dry it can't be mixed well with the other ingredients.)

In a mixing bowl combine eggs, cheese, bread crumbs, vinegar, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Stir in the spinach, combining well (use hands if necessary to distribute the cheese mixture throughout the spinach). Pat into the prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a medium frying pan until it is crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan. Cook the onion and green pepper in the bacon fat over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onions begin to color and the pepper pieces are tender.

Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Gradually stir in the water, cooking and stirring until the mixture his thickened. Stir in the tomatoes, crumble the bacon and add it, too. Season with pepper to taste and cook and stir for several minutes to heat through.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories 200

Carbohydrates 13 g

Protein 12 g

Fat 12 g

Cholesterol 105 mg

Sodium 630 mg

Calcium 244 mg

Dietary fiber 3 g

Diabetic exchanges per serving: 2 vegetable exch., 1 med-fat meat exch., and 1½ fat exch.

Serves 10 to 12.

There have been many variations of this basic cake, lots of them popularized by Campbell's. Early versions were called "Mystery Cake." It is among the first of an American tradition of cakes with surprising (and usually unidentifiable) ingredients. The cream cheese frosting is a '30s entry, too, developed for Philadelphia brand cream cheese and originally called Philly Vanilly Frosting (or, according to another source, Philly Vanilla Frosting, but I like "Philly Vanilly" better).

Cake:

2 c. sifted cake flour (sift before measuring), divided

1 c. raisins

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground allspice

½ c. vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

2 eggs

1 (10¾-oz.) can condensed tomato soup

¼ c. water

Frosting:

1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1½ tsp. vanilla

3½ to 4 c. sifted powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (8-inch) round pans.

Put 2 tablespoons of the flour in a medium bowl, add the raisins (breaking up any clumps) and toss to coat. Sift together the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and allspice.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the shortening. Gradually beat in the sugar, creaming until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Scrape down the bowl and beaters.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes, turn layers out of pans and cool completely.

Prepare frosting: In the small bowl of the electric mixer, beat the cream cheese at high speed about 1 minute, until it is fluffy. Beat in the melted butter and vanilla, then beat in the powdered sugar half a cup at a time, beating the final mixture at high speed until it is smooth and light. (Thin if necessary with a few drops of milk.) Fill and frost cake.

Nutrition information per 1/12 serving:

Calories 490

Carbohydrates 81 g

Fat 18 g

including sat. fat 7 g

Cholesterol 59 mg

Sodium 400 mg

Calcium 103 mg