TOMATO SOUP CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Grease and flour a tube pan or a Bundt pan. Set aside.
• 2. In a small bowl, gently whisk the baking soda into the condensed soup; let stand for a few minutes, until it is completely dissolved, while preparing other steps.
• 3. In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the slightly beaten egg to the butter/sugar creamed mixture, and mix it in well. After the soup/baking soda has sat for a few minutes and the baking soda is dissolved, add it to the creamed butter/sugar mixture. Mix well.
• 4. Slowly add milk to this mixture, mixing well.
• 5. Sift together all dry ingredients and add to the creamed butter/sugar/soup mixture. Stir in the nuts and raisins. *See note below, about adding nuts to frosting instead of including in cake.
• 6. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°, for 50 minutes, or until cake tests done.
• 7. For frosting, cream together butter and cream cheese, add vanilla, then work in the confectioner's sugar, adding sugar until it is a desired spreading consistency. Cream together well, and spread on completely cooled cake. Alternate idea: chop nuts to a small pea size, and put nuts in the frosting, NOT in the cake ... this tends to make the cake more moist and tender, when the nuts aren't sopping up the moisture in the cake.
• 8. Allow cake to "season" for a day , before serving.