There are so many wonderful varieties of cake out there; chocolate, Devil’s food, angel cake, white cake, red velvet cake, spice cake, carrot cake… the list goes on and on! With so many options to choose from, it’s hard to believe that someone entered a brand new cake into the running – ketchup cake! Would you be brave enough to try out this recipe? Let’s go ahead and see how it’s done, then you can decide if it’s worth the risk.
As with most cake recipes, this one has you mix your dry ingredients and your wet ingredients separately. The dry ingredients include the typical flour, baking soda, etc., but they also have some tasty spices added. Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg really tie this recipe together, so make sure to use high-quality spices!
Next comes the wet ingredients. Here’s where things get interesting. Mix an entire cup of ketchup with water and two tablespoons of red food coloring. That seems like a crazy amount, but that’s how this cake gets that dramatic red color. Using just the ketchup alone would probably result in a murky brownish-red, though you can adjust the amount of food coloring according to your preferences.
Cream butter and brown sugar together, as you would for any cake or cookie recipe, then add the dry ingredients into the sugar/butter mixture. Once combined, pour in the ketchup mixture and beat on high for a few minutes. Pour the batter into two round pans and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.
While the cake is cooling, go ahead and whip up some cream cheese, buttercream frosting. Yes, you read that right. Cream cheese and butter. That combination alone might just make this whole thing worth it! Beat together room temperature cream cheese, room temperature butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, and then add four cups of powdered sugar. Beat until nice and fluffy, then frost your cake!
So, the big question you are probably wondering is, “What does it taste like?!” The answer: a spice cake! One of the reasons this cake works out so well is because Heinz ketchup contains a decent amount of clove oil, which pairs well with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger we added in earlier. You can’t taste the ketchup at all, just the spices. Go ahead and try this out if you’re looking for a fun, unexpected recipe!
