The other day I tweeted “Busy making Mr NQN’s birthday cake…I tried to make it masculine but I keep going towards flowers and pink :S”
It was true. Try as I might I was driving down a slippery road lined with cake and veering towards pink icing and flowers despite trying to steer myself towards butch and masculine cake colours. Allow me to rewind.
“What kind of cake do you want for your birthday this year?” I asked Mr NQN a few weeks ago.
“Hmm” he said stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then a mischievous look crossed his face and he said “How about that apple cake layer thing?”.
I knew the cake that he meant. It was the thousand layered apple cake that required the painstaking layering of hundreds of paper thin slice of apple. It gave me PTSD and that took hours and that I never wanted to make again.
“Sorry but no” I said firmly.
“OK well anything apart from a handbag cake then” he said grimacing at the memory. Yes the handbag cake had become somewhat of a notorious birthday cake. I had just gone to a Planet Cake cake decorating class and spent a day decorating a cake and I just wasn’t up to the task of doing another for his birthday. In my defence, it was blue…but yes, it was a handbag too.
But then serendipity played a large part in this year’s cake. One day I was thinking about what sort of cake to make Mr NQN when an email from loyal reader Joanne popped into my inbox. She had come across a cookie crown cake that she thought that I’d like and it immediately caught my eyes! You see I call Mr NQN the Prince of Finland because despite the hippie upbringing he can be a little fussy about certain things and inside that casual hippie exterior lies a finicky prince. So off I went baking the cookies and cake. Then when it came to decorating it a courier arrived with a package of Queen’s latest cake and cookie decorating items including some icing pens that I had been curious about, edible flowers, tri colour cachous and suddenly I had the makings of a crown cookie cake! Except errm it was pink…
I did try quite hard to butch it up but it was hard as one of the icing tubes was pink. I showed him the cookie while he was decorating it and he raised an eyebrow but didn’t object so I kept going. Not that an objection would have stopped me necessarily, I was already elbow deep in icing. Oh and did I mention the cake itself? Well you won’t believe what the main ingredient is. It is a tin of tomato soup!
I realise that this is along the lines of the Ritz apple pie but trust me in that this cake tastes nothing like tomato soup once baked. It has a wonderful, dense, moist texture and is fragrant in the spices that you use. In fact it reminded me of a gingerbread spice cake more than anything! And of course I loved serving this up to Mr NQN’s family and getting them to guess what flavour it was. That night I took it to a restaurant in my new Tupperware cake holder which I got in the post from them a week before to road test. I had been coveting my mother’s for years and while she lends me a lot of things, she likes to keep this one close as she knows that she’d never see it again. It’s much sturdier than a cakebox and makes cake transportation a non issue (and bakers will know how hard it can be to transport cakes).
I served it to them in slices and they took the guessing game very seriously. Pieces of paper and pens were taken out and it took a good twenty minutes before they started getting close to the canned section of the supermarket. Then Mr NQN’s cousin Sam mentioned tinned soup and then his sister took the final guess of canned tomato soup! Of course you don’t have to make a tomato soup cake. Your favourite cake will do.
Crazy cake or not, this cake is for Mr NQN who puts up with a lot of squealing and general nuttiness. This is also the man who also:
Doesn’t mind that I call him during the day speaking in a Southern accent because I’ve been watching too much True Blood…
Likes to send pictures of monkeys to people along with cryptic David Thorne like correspondence…
Wore a superhero cape when he was little…
Laughs when I randomly yell out quotes from 30 Rock like “I got the meat, Jack!” and “there should be more tv shows about cake”…
Doesn’t mind when I give him handbag birthday cakes…
Happy Birthday Mr NQN!
So tell me Dear Reader, what kind of birthday cake have you always wanted? And what was your favourite birthday cake? Did you get any strange cakes or cake wrecks?
Crown Cookie Cake
For tomato soup cake
- 2 cups cake flour*
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1.5 teaspoon ground allspice
- 10 ounce/300ml can tomato soup
- 1/2 cup/120 g melted butter or vegetable oil
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup water
For icing
- 250g/1/2 a pound cream cheese, at room temperature
- 125g/4ozs butter
- 3-4 cups of sifted icing sugar
For cookies
- 85g/3ozs. butter
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour plus extra for rolling
- 1 egg yolk, extra
- 1/2 cup sugar
- a few drops yellow food colouring
- Decorating pens (I used the Queen ones in white and pink)
- M&Ms to decorate and flowers-you can also use other hard candy or jubes, colourful cachous/nonpareils
To make 1 cup of cake flour, add 2 tablespoons of cornflour/cornstarch to a measuring jug and then top up to the 1 cup mark with plain/all purpose flour. Mix well.
Making yellow sugar
1.Make the cookies first as they will have to dry. To make the cookies: In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until combined. Then stir in the flour and vanilla until combined. Take a sheet of cling wrap and pat down the cookie dough into a flattish circle. Refrigerate for about an hour. Meanwhile print off a stencil for the cookie pattern here . Trace onto some clean cardboard and cut out. Make some yellow sugar by placing the sugar in a ziplock bag along with a drop or two of yellow food colouring and close up firmly and shake to distribute the colour.
2. Dust a surface lightly with flour and then roll out the dough. Using a small paring knife use the cookie guide to make 13-14 cookies (a couple of spares just in case, I needed twelve for my cake). Place the cookies 1cm/half an inch apart on a parchment lined baking tray. Brush the tops lightly with egg yolk and the sprinkle with the yellow sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on tray.
3. Decorate the cookies using the pens and decorations as shown. The Queen pens set firm overnight although I found that the pink icing pen was much softer and took longer to set than the white. Other than that, I liked the tips given (straight, scallop and leaf) and being able to easily screw them onto the tubes.
4. To make the tomato soup cake preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 20cm/8 inch springform tin with baking paper. In a bowl add the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, cinnamon and all spice and mix well to combine. Add the tomato soup (undiluted), melted butter, eggs and water. Mix well until combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 60-65 minutes until a skewer inserted inside comes out clean. Allow to cool.
5. To make icing: beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until smooth and there are no lumps. Add the icing sugar in three lots and beat until combined.
Crumb coat
Second coat
6. To assemble the cake: sometimes I get cakes that dome and sometimes I don’t. We actually want one in this case but of course it didn’t. I levelled off the top of the cake with a sharp knife and kept the scraps. I turned the cake over to give it a completely smooth surface and then added the scraps on top in the centre. Then using a thin layer of the frosting I made a crumb coat-this is a layer that will catch all of the crumbs. After you finish your crumb coat, refrigerate the cake for 30-60 minutes to set it. Then with a clean angled metal spatula layer a final coat of frosting, there should be enough to develop a peak smoothly. Don’t worry too much about the sides as they will be covered by the cookies. To make the icing effect on top use the back of a teaspoon and drag the icing from the outside to the centre. Then attach the cookies to the side-mine only just fit!
Making the icing effect
Another look at the cake transporter-with handle!
Straws from LovelyLittleParties
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93 Comments | Add your own
This is really unusual. Technically tomato is a fruit so its a fruit cake:) What is the rationale for including tomato soup?
That is such a pretty cake! Those cookies are beautifully decorated.
Cheers,
Rosa
I bet it tastes just what I imagine it to be: salty, sweet and a hint of tomatoes!
you sure make a mean cake..it’s really beautiful..i like cheesecake best so that would be my ultimate..another favourite is a ‘house’ cake from my childhood..it’s made using a 4 part assembled house cake tin..i continued the tradition and made it for my children when they were young..it’s such fun to decorate with lollies and so on..a few years ago i made my daughter a pavlova (her ultimate) for her birthday to take to a restaurant..it would be an understatement to say it didn’t travel well..and needless to say i didn’t have one of those tupperware cake thingies..just a plate and cling film which stuck mercilessly to the cream and fruit..jane
What a great cake! So up my street! I’ve wanted to try tinned tomato soup cake for a few years, but have never been brave enough lol
Happy Birthday to Mr. NQN!
It really does sound weird but yes looks stunning! I love cakes that tastegood and if I want one I have to make it myself. I made a sweet potato one this year.
haha I love NQN’s birthday cake even if it is a little bit pink lol. Last year I made a monster cake for my partners 28th birthday…we took it out to dinner and he loved it!!!
Awwww, pretty – I love how you made the frosting pointy like a crown. Happy birthday Mr NQN!
Now that is the sweetest looking cake. My boys would go wild over that!
My best ever cake was a swimming pool cake when I was about 8. Filled with green jelly and babies with floatieson. Ahhh, still think fondly of that one.
Firstly, A big Happy Birthday to Mr.NQN.
The cake looks gorgeous and even though not particularly masculine lol, it’s a very festive cake.
Just yesterday I was buying some groceries and came across the Queen range of decorations, I picked up the pens and nearly bought them but not having used them before was unsure of their potential. Low and behold Lorraine, you have done all the legwork for me. Apart from the fact that the icing takes a while to dry, I’ll buy these as the results are very neat.
Although my mum is a great cook, she was never big on baking so my birthday cakes were bought Continental cakes from the local Italian cake shop. I didn’t mind because they were delicious but I’ve never had a crazy cake . I did have a lovely mint green ‘key’cake for my 21st which I was excited about.
I have one of your cake transporters I bought it many years ago when tupperware parties where all the rage. It has taken many cakes to schools for birthdays.
what a weird recipe, I might just try it and see if MR CLI, can guess the flavour.
My all time favourite birthday cake is a chocolate charlotte cake. Yum
Nice Cake Lorraine,
Mr NQN is a Very Lucky Man
You must be the most creative baker in the world. You literally dazzle me over and over with your creations!
What is that whisk ?
I’m always a fan of the Women’s Weekly Swimming Pool cake – even though I haven’t had one since I was about 8
Wow Lorraine, the cake looks soo good… soo creative… Mr NQN is such a lucky man
Happy B’day to Mr NQN 
This looks PHENOMENAL Lorraine!! The flavours sound sooo to my tastes, and the pretty gaudy girly crown design?? Ohhh yeahhh!
Yet another testament to your patience and attention to detail, Lorraine. Mr. NQN should be very grateful!
oh my goodness that is such an awesome looking cake!!!! I wish i could bake like you!
I love you! I have just spent the weekend trawling the internet for ideas for M’s birthday, nothing quite hitting the spot… This is perfect
although will probably stick to chocolate cake – thank you! xxx
Wow, first Ritz Apple Pie and now tomato soup cake. I am definitely intrigued. Did it have any tomato flavour at all?
Happy Birthday to Mr NQN. I hope he enjoyed his crown cake.
How magnificent!!! What a very lucky birthday boy, it looks fabulous! I don’t think I could name a favourite birthday cake – my mum is a master baker, so all of my cakes have been beautiful
The only birthday cake disaster I can remember was a teddy bear picnic cake mum made for one of my two sisters for her 7th birthday, or somewhere around that age, complete with the green coconut grass and teddies sitting on top… the younger sister, who would have been 3 or 4 years old, decided it looked like play-doh and stuck her hands into it half way through singing happy birthday! Mum was devastated!
Such a cute cake! Your husband sounds wonderful and I love the dynamic of your relationship! Happy birthday Mr NQN!
Great cake!!! But I am now dying to try the apple cake……a glutton for punishment
thanks
Love your cake transporter – and the cake! But those cookies are super awesome! I can’t believe I’ve never thought of stenciling cookies…
P.S. Cityhippfarmgirl: the swimming pool cake was my childhood fave as well!
Oh Miss NQN -I know what should be on your gift list for your next birthday… a thesaurus! It seems you STILL can’t find another term for the word ‘moist’. There’s damp, clammy, dank, humid, muggy, dewy, wet…
Then again, maybe ‘moist’ IS the better of all evils!
Happy Birthday to MR. NQN. That is an adorable cake. Tomato soup! Wow! Who would’ve thought?? He is so so lucky.
Its my birthday in 2 weeks and I’d love a pink layer cake. I’ve NEVER had a pink cake, even as a child I think! Too much trouble and kind of silly to bake yourself a cake on your own birthday, but I might give it a go! Trouble is, when I bake, I can’t eat
Wow – a tomato cake is a bit odd, let alone a tomato soup one! Great job on the decorating
This almost looks like carrot cake…what does tomato soup cake taste like?? How fascinating Lorraine!
Happy birthday to Mr. NQN! A tomato soup cake all done up fancy sounds like the perfect way to ring in such an important day, too.
Have you read Thunder Cake? It’s about a girl who’s at her grandma’s house, and they have to gather tomatoes from the garden before the storm comes (and the thunder is getting closer and closer) so they can put them in thunder cake, which is a chocolate cake. Then there’s a recipe at the end, and we used to make it- it was super moist, most likely due to the pureed canned tomatoes!
That cookie cake looks AMAZING!! Wish I could decorate like that. I actually attempted to make your Christmas swiss roll cottages (from an earlier post) – epic fail haha.
Happy Birthday to Mr. NQN! TRUE!
LOVE the cookie decoration too!
Glad the cake got the “WHOO HOO!”
Am sure Mr. NQN felt like the “King of the Castle” on his birthday in your very special way too!
love this tomato cake Lorraine!
For me any cake is good cake!
So if someone wants to make me a cake for my birthday or otherwise, I will not complain 
OMG! I have that cake transporter! it is the best!!
what an awesome cake!! you did a fantastic job!
Thank you, thank you, thank you… I’m sending this article about Tomato Soup Cake to several friends who are still chiding me for having served this precise pastry at a church function several years ago. I found the recipe in a loose-leaf mimeographed cookbook printed by the chamber of commerce of a nearby town in 1936. Most of the book’s recipes had been submitted by immigrant women from either the Mediterranean or northern Europe, the tomato soup recipe by a “Yank”… I made the cake mostly for pop-art reasons (“Ho ho ho folks, tomato soup cake!! Andy Warhol would love it!!!”) but myself and others found it really delicious and even “gourmet” in flavor… Thanks for validating my curiosity that lead me to making a tomato soup (“pop-art”) cake…. The cake tastes like a variation of a spice cake.
Hi Nigella
I have just attended the 90th birthday of a neighbour who introduced me to tomato soup cake as a child. She was famous for it and the recipe was very similar to yours. How nostalgic!
Hi Lorraine well you’ve out done yourself once again! WoW what a fab cake I can’t however imagine what the cake would taste like!!If you wanted to make the cake a little “blokeier” perhaps a little more blue icing??!The most whimsical cake I ever made was my daughter’s 3rd birthday cake of Noddy (of Toy Town fame) complete with spotted hat & bell..It looked a treat!
I’ve heard of the tomato soup cake but never been brave enough to try it. It sounds wonderful. Your crown cake is perfect for your sweet prince. xoxo Mum
Hope Mr NQN had a great birthday, he is so lucky that you went to all that effort.
Aaahhh, lucky you that Mr NQN is made out of stern stuff! What a gorgeous cake for anyone!
It looks beautiful!! Thanks for sharing. I would love a beautiful home made cake just like the one you’ve made for my bday.. Preferably with chocolates in it too hehe
Thats cake transporter is brilliant
so unusual putting tinned tomato soup in a cake but I love that everything you do always works lol 
Happy Birthday, Mr NQN.
I think your best birthday present must be a girl named Lorraine!
This cake looks UNBELIEVEALBY fab…even with tomato soup in it. Lovely. You are AMAZING. xx
Happy Birthday to Mr NQN! This is such a gorgeous cake, I especially love the icing pattern and the colour of the batter
Homemade birthday cakes always beat store-bought in my opinion. Growing up I had a Spot (the dog) cake, the cake with a doll out the top, and then pavlova was my favourite each year
*laughs* Okay, yes, Lorraine, the pink does make it rather… unique, but honestly it’s gorgeous enough (wait, no, “handsome” enough) to suit anyone! I’m upset you didn’t take my screwdriver advice, though.
Hmph.
P.S. We never got fancy cakes in my family – never anythign decorated at all! I remember asking a poppyseed loaf for my birthday one year. I was a strange kid…
When living in FNQ I baked a lovely rectangular chocolate cake for my daughter’s birthday. I cut it into a horse’s head shape and covered it with white icing and then decorated with mane – licorice, eyes – colored icing piped out and teeth – licorice allsorts bits. I left it on the work top and checked all kid and family on the front veranda. On return I found our dog just on hind legs eating the nostrils and mouth. Ah – quick retrim and adjusting and no one knew and all enjoyed it! Oh – those were the days!
I loved making the childrens’ birthday cakes, and never had a disaster with them, which is more than I can say for some of my other experiments. However, I am of the school that believes that everything can be salvaged, especially if it is packed with truly terrific ingredients, like the Greta Anna cake from years ago full of chocolate pieces and almond meal. However it did have some flour in it, and as one of the consumers had coeliac disease, I replaced the wheat flour with a mixture of soy flour and cream of tartar (a hint from somewhere). Imagine my dismay when the cake emerged from the oven with a huge sink-hole in the middle. After some thought I made a lemon butter filling, filled the hole and dribbled chocolate over it. Big success, but embarrassing when everything wanted the recipe!
Then there was the time I handed the cake box containing a chocolate mousse cake to my husband to put in the car to take to his sister’s place. I found him at the car with the box tucked sideways under his arm! I was just pleased it was his own relative who was to be the recipient of that mess. Should have had a cake carrier!
Oh dear – sorry I wrote so much! And I will be trying the tomato soup cake to take to work
My daughter is turning 10 this month… I may have to make a crown cake! Only chocolate as she doesn’t like spice cakes. Very fun idea. Happy Birthday Mr. NQN!
Happy Birthday O Prince of Finland.
What a cool cake indeed! It reminds me of all those 70′s recipes of casseroles based on tins of cream soup.
My daughters like to pick hard to make cakes and some of them were- Pirates treasure chest, mad scientist, princess castle with turrets, space shuttle, and the most interesting of all was a scarcophogus of King Tutankamen. Talk about fussy!
Happy birthday Mr NQN! haha your recipes always amaze me but canned tomato soup in a cake is seriously out of this world!
This story is hilarious! Oh, the partners of bakers and they levels of craziness they must endure.
Happy Birthday, Mr NQN!
Great cake, glad Mr NQN is the king of his castle for today. Love the little bikkies.
Fantastic cake… Lucky Mr NQN and happy birthday to him. Must try this cake as it sounds good to me. I used to make Chocolate Beetroot cake many years ago and no-one could ever guess the beetroot.
I was totally daunted when my daughter asked for a “Sydney Opera House” cake back in the 70′s … days later when I was still struggling with the ‘how am I going to make it / or how am I going to disappoint her” question, she came and said she’d changed her mind. Phew… she would have loved your crown cake – maybe I’ll make it for her 40th next year!
I have a much older tupperware cake carrier which is awesome!
I’m intrigued to try this cake, I love gingerbread & with tomato in it, it must be healthy right?
A masterpiece should I say…lovely presentation and the cookies with the frosting look awesome.
I went all pop-eyed at how pretty the cake was – and laughed so hard when I learned it was for your husband! It’s so princess-y! And I’d suppose the tomato soup added fruity richness to the cake.
I love the idea of putting cookies around the outside – such a good idea!
I had a giant PB cookie cake I loved!
Hehehe what do you want? “something manly”. um ok, no you’re going to get something girlie instead. LOL. at least you made a crown, not a tiara!! Happy birthday Mr NQN
Looks devine! You have so much patience to go to such lengths. Strangest cakes I ever had are an Earthquake cake & a Wacky cake.(Also called Crazy cake.) Google it. They’re not pretty cakes but they are delious.
Happy Birthday Mr NQN
Hi Three-Cookies-Isn’t it!
I think it adds creaminess and keeps the cake moist. But I’m not entirely sure!
Hi Rosa-Thanks so much Rosa!
Hi Michelle-hehe well oddly enough, there isn’t a taste of tomatoes!
Hi Jane-Thank you! Oh yes a good cheesecake is divine! Wow that sounds amazing! And I know exactly how hard it is to transport a pavlova! it goes so soft doesn’t it!
Hi Anna-hehe cool! I hope you like it!
trust me, it’s really nice! Not the raw batter (that tastes like tomato soup 
) 
Thank you!
Hi muppy-Thanks! Yes I know it sounds weird, it took me ages to make it because of that
Mmm yum! 
Hi Angela-hehe thank you! I know I should have made it a different colour
Oooh that sounds fabulous Angela and fun too! 
hi Cakelaw-Thank you so much!
Hi cityhippyfarmgirl-Thanks Brydie! It’s perfect for little princes!
Oh yes I always wanted one of those! :O
Hi Matilda-Thank you so much Matilda!
Hehe yes I think he was closing one eye at it 
Yes try these ones, the chocolate fudge icing though wasn’t as good as it was quite runny when I tested it quickly. Hey those continental cake sound pretty delicious! But it’s never too late to have a crazy cake 
Hi jenny-Isn’t it great! I’ve been trying to get a hold of my mum’s for years
Yes it’s a fun test! Mmm that sounds amazingly good 
Hi Peter-Thank you so much! I like to remind him of that
Hi Vicki-Aww thanks Vicki! This was someone else’s clever idea but I was happy to make it!
Hi Therese-It was a prototype that i was given many years ago to test!
Hi Shan-I have never had one! I think I might ask for one next year
Hi Isya-thank you Isya, you are too sweet!
Hi Lizzi-Thanks Lizzi! Yeah it’s more girly than butch isn’t it
Hi Amanda-thanks Amanda! You are too kind! I think he was amused but appreciated it
Hi lily-Thank you! I promise this is a really easy cake to make!
The cookies are more complicated but the cake itself is quite easy-I promise! 
Hi Angela-Ooh YAY! Happy Birthday to darling M too! You’re more than welcome! xxx
Hi Jennifer-hehe I know, they’re both crazy sounding aren’t they?
the raw batter does but once cooked there is no tomato flavour at all! 
Thank you! I think he did 
Hi jess-Thank you Jess!
Oh you’re very fortunate to have a master baker for a mum! And I think the talent has rubbed off on you! Oh no, your poor mum! 
Hi Lesley-Thanks Lesley!
Hehe he’s a very patient, sweet man 
Thank you so much!
Hi Susan-haha ok but don’t say that I didn’t warn you! And use as large apples as you can find!
Hi Lexi-Thanks! Yes it works with cookies that aren’t too intricate
I really want one of those now!
Hi kirgibg-Haha see? it’s impossible to find another word that works!
Hi Sneh-Thank you Sneh!
I know, it’s a crazy idea isn’t it! Oooh happy birthday to you! I know what you mean, pink cakes are divine. Oh can you order one perhaps so that you can relax? Oh why is that? 
Hi EHA-Haha exactly! Because!
Oh I haven’t had one of those for years! Really? How amazing! When was it invented? Hehe well I bet he was happy!
Hi Tina-hey you might miss out of things if you don’t try them
Hi caterina-It’s really good I promise!
It’s full of spices and moist 
Hi Carolyn-Thank you Carolyn!
Hehe I agree!
Hi Anna-Ooh no I haven’t read that but thanks for the recommendation!
It sounds fantastic! I should give it a go 
HiCappucino-Thank you! Oh trust me, you so could
That’s a really hard cake I have to say so don’t feel bad!
Hi Joanne-thanks Joanne and thanks for referring me to this cake just in time too!
Hi Leah-Thank you!
Haha that’s quite true 
Hi i don’t cry. i eat-hehe isn’t it great!?
Thanks so much!
Hi Gian John-You’re very welcome!
Hehe well that’s a shame that they chided you for making such a delicious cake! And yes a great idea to make it for pop art reasons! 
I’m so glad!
Hi Helena-Oh how fabulous! What a lovely nostalgic moment!
And 90 no less too! 
Hi Tina-Thanks so much Tina!
I know, I think blue would have been a good idea but I wasn’t up to making another batch of icing and just used the pink that was in the box 
Oh that sounds adorable! 
Hi mum-Oh you must! It’s so delicious mum! Hehe aww thanks! xxx
Hi Dumpling Girl-Thanks Dumpling Girl!
Hi YaYa-hehe yes he is unaffected by pink things although he would probably draw the line at wearing a shirt
Hi Daphne-Thanks Daphne!
haha yes chocolate cake and chocolate perhaps? 
Hi Nic-It is, I am so glad I have one of my own now!
Thanks! Yes it’s surprising but it does! 
Hi Kim-Thank you so much!
Aww you are too sweet-I must tell him that 
Aww Kim you make me blush! xxx
Hi Chanel-Thanks Chanel!
Yes I was wondering how it would turn out in colour once baked! I agree totally! home made cakes are always made with love 
You had a great range of cakes! 
Hi Hannah-haha I know, I told him about your screwdriver advice and he laughed and I think he was secretly hoping I’d do it!
Haha me too, unusual kids grow up to be interesting adults right? 
Hi Cathy-Wow that sounds amazing!
Oh no, naughty doggy but you really saved the day! 
Hi margie-That’s wonderful!
The Greta anna cake sounds fantastic-I’m going to look that up now! haha well done on you for saving that! 
Haha that’s hilarious, and yes lucky that the recipient was his relative! 
Don’t be sorry at all, I love reading long comments! 
Hi Cindy-Oh fantastic! Yes a chocolate one would be delicious! Thank you so much Cindy!
Hi InTolerantChef-haha thank you so much!
Oh yes you’re right, they always had a tin of soup didn’t they 
Oh wow, that is amazing! You must have been a very popular mum making those ones! 
Hi Vivian-haha I promise it tastes nice! Honest!
Hi Amber-I know, I knew I was pushing it giving him a handbag cake!
Thank you!
Hi mykitchenstories.com-haha he sure is!
Thank you!
Hi Lyn-Thanks so much Lyn!
Yes it’s very much like that cake! Oh what a relief, that sounds like an engineering challenge! 
Hehe cool! 
Hi Phunk-Isn’t it great? How is it holding up? Haha I think it must be!
Hi Sanjeeta-thanks so much Sanjeeta, you are too sweet!
Hi Midge-Haha I know! He puts up with so much cake frivolity!
Hi Kerry-Yes it’s a great way of making the crown!
Hi Blond Duck-Ooh that sounds divine!
Hi catty-hehe I think he knows that I have a gravitational pull towards pink and girly cakes
Haha yes that’s true! Thank you!
Hi KK-Thanks so much KK! OK I’ve looked them up and want to try them! Thank you so much!
I love the idea of adding tomato soup to it! Must taste interesting. I’ll have to try it out. Such a cool looking cake with a great story behind it. Makes it all the more special even with the addition of pink!
I love that cake! I was curious about if you had special cookie cutters but your process is great if a little time consuming – wonder if any of my nieces would love it. Did the cookies get soft from standing in the icing? I have had tomato soup cake on my list of things to make and now you make me really really want some
Happy Birthday to Mr. NQN! And thank you for posting such a lovely crown cake! I love tomato soup cake & as you’ve stated, the best part is waiting until everyone’s eating the cake, before the ‘secret’ ingredient is revealled. The reactions are hillarious!
As for my favourite cake. I’d have to say my first choice would be Wacky cake, with my Grandmothers Canada War Cake being second. Both cakes were the usual cake dessert in my younger days, as they were cakes that could be made without milk, butter & eggs.
I also started making Wacky cake for my children when they were youngsters as it was easy to make, and best of all, economical as funds were always so tight.
I still make wacky cake to this day, but not as often, as my younger grandchildren are growing up with cake mixes as a favourite.
On the other hand, if my oldest Grandson, now age 22, is coming to visit, that’s a whole different story. Wacky cake with fudge icing is always requested!
Hey NQN! Your blog is awesome! I wish I was a proper baker so I could make all your recipes but I’m a bit lazy
for now I’ll have to look at the pictures
So beautiful! The cake sounds super delicious with tomato soup. I’ve done a cake with tomato puree, similar idea, and really loved it. The cookie crown decorations are exquisite.
You always bake the quirkiest things which is why I love coming to visit. The cookies around the edge to make a crown are a super idea.
Happy Birthday to Mr NQN. I am intrigued by tomato soup cake – I’ll have to try it one day. The cookies look amazing. Pink is the new blue
PS love the cake carrier.
Lorraine, I cut the photo of this cake out of Family Fun magazine quite a while ago, but I have yet to make it. It looks so fabulous! I have also heard of the tomato soup cake, but have never made that either! You made both cakes at once~Bravo for you, and Happy Birthday to Mr. NQN!
Beautiful!
Happy Belated Birthday to Mr. NQN!
Lorraine, I spied a tiny bit of blue on his cake, so your plan to ‘butch it up’ was accomplished.
Your story (hilarious, btw) reminds me of the many times I’ve asked dear J what type of birthday cake he preferred for his birthday, only to end up doing whatever cake, or technique, I’d been eager to try, at the time.
In the end, however, we were all happy.
Oh, that’s lovely! What a great way to decorate a cake!
This is adorable and thanks too for the stencil for the cookies. I know two twin boys who like to wear crowns and their birthday is next month. One’s favorite color is yellow. I think this might be his cake.
I love making cakes, but don’t actually like them.
So usually I have cheesecake.
But next year I want macarons!
Will just have to find somewhere that I can order online cause NO ONE makes them here!
Happy Birthday (belated) to Mr NQN
A cake with tomato soup? Interesting. Hope Mr. NQN had a really nice birthday. The cake was very pretty, if feminine. ;o)
this is truly a masterpiece, lorraine–excellent work!
Exceptionally intriguing. Love the design – totally indulgent which is perfect for any special someone’s birthday
Hi Dressed and Eaten-Thanks! Yes I was so interested to see how it would turn out!
Thank you! 
Hi Johanna-Yes it takes more time that is very true indeed! I wish I could make cookie cutters a lot easier!
I put them on that evening so they didn’t turn very soft but I’d imagine they would if they were on it for a day or two. You should definitely try it!
Hi Jay-Thank you very much! Haha it’s funny isn’t it! And people were guessing potato chip cake etc
I’ve got to try these cakes now, they sound absolutely stellar! 
Off to look them up now! 
Hi Marie-Thanks very much Marie! Hehe that’s cool!
Hi 5 Star Foodie -Thanks Natasha!Ahh yes I’d imagine that would be lovely! Thank you
Hi Linda-Aww shucks thank you!
Aren’t they a great idea!
Hi thebakingaddict-Thanks so much!
Haha indeed pink is the new blue! 
Thanks, it’s so useful!
Hi Sue-Ahh great minds!
I know, I couldn’t help myself, too many cakes, not enough time 
Thank you!
Hi Marysol-Thank you so much Marysol and thanks for noting the blue on the cake too!
Haha you’ve hit the nail on
the head as always
Hi Catherine-Thanks so much Catherine!
Hi Angela-Thanks Angela!Oh what a great idea!
I hope he likes it!
Hi Kelley-Haha you’re hilarious
What about chocolate cake? A macaron cake perhaps? Thank you! 
Hi Nuts about food -He did indeed as we went to the snow and he got a chance to snowboard which made him very happy
Shhh don’t tell him! 
Hi grace-Thanks so much Grace!
Hi Yasmeen-Thank you Yasmeen!
What a fun job! Everything looks so goos, must be hard to pick a winner!
Wow, it’s been at least 30 years since I made a tomato soup cake, I’d almost forgotten about them (they were the rage here at one time). I know I have a recipe somewhere. Way to bring back memories!
And happy Birthday to Mr. NQN!
I’ve seen cakes with tomato and I’ve been really intrigued. Your description is fantastic and you’re right, it really does look like a spice cake…I will be trying this ASAP!
Wishing Mr NQN a very happy (belated) birthday!
HiLorraine, Love the cake. I am going to make it for my granddaughter’s birthday.
I was interested to find out what sort of bicarb you use.
Awww this is such a pretty cake, I’m sure Mr NQN didn’t mind the little touches of pink!
It’s a brilliant idea to use actual cookies as a cookie decoration, plus it adds texture.
I ♥ Tupperware! I ♥’d it so much I had to become a demonstrator there was no other option LoL. But a Tomato soup cake I’ve never heard of before! I must try it.
There’s an old recipe for chocolate tomato soup cake that I’ve so wanted to make! This is a great birthday cake and I love the ring of crowns. Very prince like! I always make a chocolate cake with something coffee or mocha about it for me. Always. Oh or the fab chestnut flour cake from The Cake Bible with chocolate buttercream. For husband I never ever know.
Aw I love the design of the crown cake! And I’ve been curious about ketchup cake, also an odd tomato based cake
. Love just finding out that you’re a True Blood addict! Didn’t know y’all got it over there. I’m DYING for next week’s episode to see what happens!
Hi Maris-Thanks Maris!
Hi Mrs. L-Oh right! I can imagine-it’s such an interesting idea! Thank you!
Hi Faith-Wonderful! I hope you like it!
Thanks so much 
Hi Terri-Fabulous and happy birthday to her! My bicarb is a strange one. My dad was a scientist so he gave me this huge plastic bottle of it. I don’t think I’ll ever get through it!
It’s in the picture
Hi Su-yin-Thanks Su-yin!
I think he is just used to having odd cakes 
Very true that! 
Hi Jadey -Oh wow you really do love it!
Absolutely! I’d love to know what you think of it if you do make it 
Hi Jamie-Ooh with chocolate too? HOw fabulous! They both sound delicious!
Now I’m craving cake!
Hi Xiaolu-Thanks Xiaolu!
Oh yes I adore it. I’m completely addicted I have to say! And yes I hope Jessica is ok!
What- you didn’t make him a LEO cake?? Neat- you did ‘crown’ him ‘king of the jungle’
Happy belated birthday to Mr. NQN. What a cute cake!
May I know the difference between cake flour & plain flour?
thanks!
this cake is amazing!!! NQN is a lucky man!
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