How the wizard of Oz made a cake

Photo credit: Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco 

When I was a child, my sister, my mother and I would read tons of books together. One of our favorite books to read was Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco.

My sister and I had always been scared of thunderstorms after seeing The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy had been flown to Oz by one. Thunder is so much scarier when you think it is going to blow your house away. To distract us, my mother would call us into the kitchen to bake a Thunder Cake. We would have a blast in the kitchen while outside it could be pouring rain and thundering like crazy, but my sister and I wouldn't notice.

We had more important things to be doing than being scared of thunder -- baking chocolate cake took much concentration.


Thunder Cake

(adapted from the recipe in Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco)

All photos by Kathryn Powell

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup pureed tomatoes
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup dry cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. First, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, cream together the shortening and the sugar. I did this with a mixer, and it took about a minute. It should look something like this when it is completely creamed together.  It is ok if the mixture is a bit clumpy, as long as the sugar is completely combined with the shortening.

2. Mix in the vanilla and the egg yolks. 

3. Place the egg whites in a separate bowl and, using a mixer, whip the egg whites on the highest setting until they are stiff. This will take about three minutes. The egg whites should look like puffy white clouds, and the waves made by the mixer shouldn't flop after the mixer is turned off. If you are using the same mixer that you used for creaming the sugar and shortening, wash it thoroughly as the fat from the shortening will inhibit the egg whites becoming stiff. 


4. Fold the egg whites into the shortening and sugar mixture. Do not stir in the egg whites. You want to keep the light-fluffiness of the egg whites.








5. Gently stir in the cold water and the pureed tomatoes. Don't worry if the mixture seems a bit watery, it will be better after we add in the dry mixture.





6. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.




7. Mix the dry mixture into the creamy mixture. Pour this cake batter into two greased 8 inch pans. I used cooking spray to grease the pans. 

8. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes at 350 degrees. The cakes are finished when you can stick a toothpick through the middle and have it come out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan for up to ten minutes, then immediatly place them on a rack to cool completely. Cakes left sitting more than ten minutes stick horribly to the pan. After the cakes have completely cooled, feel free to frost and decorate the cake in any way you please! I decorated mine with chocolate icing and M&Ms.