Green Tomato Cake With Nuts

Prep: 12 mins

Cook: 60 mins

Total: 72 mins

Servings: 12 servings

Yield: 1 cake

Put your green tomatoes to great use with this spiced green tomato cake recipe. While they’re often reserved for savory dishes like fried green tomatoes or relish, adding them to a sweeter dessert is a fun twist. It’s surprisingly delicious and a pleasant change of pace before the first fall frost gets your tomatoes.

As easy as any made-from-scratch cake, this recipe comes together quickly and uses many pantry staples. You’ll start by creaming a few ingredients and sifting the dry ingredients, then blending the two mixes together. It’s flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg for a warming spiciness, while pecans and raisins complement the green tomatoes. Enjoy it as is, or bake it with a flaked coconut topping.

There are a few ways you can change up the base recipe, too. For instance, walnuts, chocolate chips, or dried cranberries are delicious additions to this cake, or you can use a favorite autumn pie spice blend. To sweeten the cake, top it with cream cheese frosting or a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable oil, or melted vegetable shortening, plus more for greasing pan

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

• 2 1/4 cups sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1 cup pecans

• 1 cup raisins

• 2 1/2 cups finely diced green tomatoes

• 1/2 cup flaked coconut, or to taste, optional

Steps to Make It

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs, and vanilla extract; beat until smooth and creamy.

4. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg; slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well.

5. Stir in pecans, raisins, and tomatoes.

6. Pour into prepared baking pan. Top with coconut, if desired.

7. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Recipe Variations

• Use melted vegetable shortening as a substitute for the vegetable oil, if you prefer.
• Swap the pecans out for chopped walnuts.
• Instead of raisins, try brickle bits, chocolate chips, dried cranberries or blueberries, chopped dried apricots, or golden raisins.
• Frost the cake with a cream cheese frosting or a simple sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar.
• Replace the cinnamon and nutmeg with 1 1/2 teaspoons of apple pie spice or pumpkin spice blend.