Tomato Soup Spice Cake

I always wanted to make a tomato soup cake. I was nervous, so I made it for a church fellowship meal. This way we could all share in my baking experement haha. I will say out of my 9x13 tray there were only four small peices left.

Ok  confession time I didn't make this from scratch. Yes I cheated I used a cake mix. Let me tell you this cake made me work. The oven ignition went out so I had to take the cake for a walk across the street and bake it in the church oven. I did also mix it all by hand. So can I call it semi-homemade? ;P

1pkg Spice Cake
1 can tomato soup (10.75oz, the small one)
1/2 c water
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F
Grease and lightly flour  a 9x13 dish (or two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans)
Mix eggs, water, soup, and cake mix
Pour into prepared pans
Bake 25 minutes or until done (my 9x13 took exactly 25mins)
Cool on wire racks 10 minutes
Remove from pans and cool completely (I left mine in pan)
Frost with cream cheese icing

Meatballs & Tomato Sauce

This is a recipe that a fellow foodie shared with me, and can be found on the Jamie Oliver website. I love meatballs but hate making them, some recipes are overly complicated this one isn’t!! Even though it is simple it has great flavours and bakes wonderfully in the oven. I hope you enjoy them!!

Meatballs:
ground beef (enough to make the right number of meatballs for your household)
1/2 onion chopped fine
handful of breadcrumbs
1 egg
tsp of chilli powder
Basil, dried or chopped
salt/pepper to taste
olive oil for pan (if frying)

Mix all ingredients with hands then shape into meatballs. Made mine so they’d fit in the palm of my hand, maybe around ping-pong ball size.
Fry in a non-stick pan with a little oil, make sure oil is hot so the oil doesn‘t saturate the meatballs.
Or place on baking sheets (you can line them with parchment paper) and bake for about 30mins in a 350F oven. Please note baking time is determined on the size of your meatballs

Sauce:

796ml can of diced tomatoes mostly drained (about 3.4C or 27oz) or homemade
1/2 onion chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic chopped fine (I used garlic press)
tsp of chili powder
1 bay leaf
3 cm of cinnamon stick (or 1tsp cinnamon)
2 tsp all spice
olive oil for pan
salt/pepper to taste
200g of hard salty cheese for grating: asiago or parmesan (about 1C)

Heat oil, add onion and cook gently for 5 mins.
Add spices and garlic, cook together another 2-3 minutes.
Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Increase heat so it starts boiling.
As soon as it does add cooked meatballs and grind in half the cheese.
Simmer slowly for a good 5 mins.
Serve over rice and top with remaining cheese