John Whaite won the third series of the Great British Bake Off in 2012 with his impressive baking skills, including how to make the perfect chocolate sponge cake. While eggs, flour, sugar and butter are the staple ingredients required for a traditional recipe, tomato soup is another baking staple used by the GBBO star. And it’s guaranteed to give you a “sweeter”, “super rich” flavour.
The baker-turned-Strictly Come Dancing star revealed the secret ingredient while appearing on Steph McGovern’s Packed Lunch.
While demonstrating how to make the layered sponge cake, he noted that he uses tomato soup as the secret ingredient.
John said: “It’s a chocolate fudge cake with tomato soup, I know it sounds [weird], but it’s amazing. This is my invention, but I didn’t invent the idea. It’s from 1950s America. The tomato soup just makes it so fudgy and sweet as well. It sweetens it that little bit more.”
And the team at Heinz have shared their own twist on this unique recipe.
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Ingredients
To make the soup-filled chocolate cake for eight people, you need:
- 175g plain flour
- One teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 80g cocoa powder
- 50g muscovado sugar
- 100g sunflower oil
- One tablespoon of vanilla bean paste
- 225g Heinz tomato soup
- Two eggs
- Three tablespoons of strong coffee
- Half a teaspoon of salt
Method
Start by whisking together soup, sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs and coffee in a large bowl until smooth.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Mix gently until the mixture is smooth and silky, with a deep brown colour.
Line two, round, nine-inch tins with baking parchment or use butter for greasing.
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Decorate with chocolate buttercream and strawberries, spreading the frosting in between the two sponges and on top.
To make your own frosting, combine the following ingredients until smooth:
- 150ml hot water
- 240g dark brown muscovado sugar
- 150g cocoa powder
- 120g unsalted butter
While demonstrating the recipe, the Heinz baker explained that the soup creates the “most delicious, moist chocolate cake” and is a “game changer”.