Green Tomato Cake

While green tomatoes are plenty tart, they have a place in sweet dishes such as this cake.

Green Tomato Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter,

melted and cooled

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 cup raisins

2-3 green tomatoes, cored and cut into 1⁄4-inch cubes (about 2 1⁄2 cups)

1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch cake pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, butter and eggs until blended. Beat in the vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. The batter will be quite stiff. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the raisins, tomatoes, walnuts and coconut.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smoothing out the top to make it even. Bake for about 1 hour or until the cake has set, pulled away from the sides and springs back to the touch. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly beat the cream cheese and butter until there are no lumps. Gradually add the sugar. If the frosting is too stiff, thin it with a dribble of milk. If it’s too thin, add more sugar.

Makes 14 servings

From “Kitchen Sense: More than 600 Recipes to Make You a Great Home

Cook” by Mitchell Davis (Clarkson Potter)

Staff file photo