These spiced cupcakes have a secret ingredient – condensed tomato soup! These tomato soup cupcakes are a perfect Fall treat, especially when you frost them with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting)

I made these awhile a back and just found the photo of the cupcakes on my camera so I thought I’d share. I was watching Food Network (surprise, surprise if you know me) and twice in one day (yes I watch a lot of it) these were mentioned. I take that as a culinary sign if there was one.

I love making cupcakes and I thought this one would be fun. I found many similar cupcake recipes for this one, but most called for a basic cream cheese (or mascarpone frosting).

Mascarpone being well not cheap, I decided to stick to the cream cheese frosting but change it up a little bit. I had seen recently on Beantown Baker‘s (a blog I am a huge fan of and that also was a inspiration behind my own) a post she had done about red velvet cupcakes with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting recipe. I decided to use this to top my cupcakes with.

The frosting did not disappoint. It did make quite a bit, as Beantown Baker’s blog warned but I always seem to run out of frosting mid-way through icing them finding myself in an extremely frustrated spot that requires a second trip to the grocery store. This time though, I actually ended up having extra (as warned) so froze the leftover frosting to be used at a later date (you can’t go wrong with extra frosting laying around in your fridge).

What do tomato soup cupcakes taste like?

When I first heard of these my first initial reaction was EEW. Seriously, tomato soup?! In a cupcake?! Um, no thank you. But don’t let the canned soup scare you.

These cupcakes have a wonderful spice cake resemblance. Everyone who tasted one of these cupcakes said they were delicious. I also refused to tell them what was in it until after they tasted it. I’m evil like that.

Some swore AFTER I told them the cupcakes were made with tomato soup that they thought they could taste it. The mind is a powerful thing. Either way, they really were delicious.

Ingredients needed to make these tomato soup cupcakes:

2 cans of condensed tomato soup (low sodium if you can find it)
baking soda
all purpose flour
cinnamon
nutmeg
allspice
baking powder
unsalted butter
brown sugar
granulated white sugar
eggs

How to make these tomato soup cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325°. Line two twelve-cup cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sprinkle baking soda over the tomato soup and stir well. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and baking powder.
Beat butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy, three to four minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat for a few seconds. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with tomato soup, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl again, and mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
Fill the prepared cupcake pan about three-quarters full. Bake the cupcakes 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Tips On Making This Tomato Soup Recipe

Be sure to measure your flour correctly if you are using dry measuring cups or you can use a kitchen scale for best accuracy
Make sure your large eggs are room temperature. Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using them in your recipe.
Do not overfill your cupcake liners when scooping the batter. You want your liners about 2/3 full. Overfilled cupcakes can result in the cupcakes sinking after you baking them. Read this post for 6 reasons why your cupcakes sink in the middle.
Double check that your baking powder is still fresh. Because this recipe uses melted butter there is no creaming step to incorporate air, so you need to make sure the baking powder is fresh so your cupcakes rise properly. To check the freshness, add a teaspoon of baking powder to some hot water. If it bubbles, it’s still fresh. If it doesn’t throw it out.
Use an oven thermometer to make sure that your oven is heated correctly so these bake properly. For more oven 101, read this post.

Can I Make These Cupcakes Ahead Of Time?

Absolutely you can! These cupcakes can be made ahead 1 day in advance, covered, and stored at room temperature.

The frosting can also be made 1 day in advance, covered, and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

If you have leftover cupcakes they also keep well covered tightly in the refrigerator for 3 days. You can also freeze these cupcakes, without filling, for up to 2-3 months. Then just thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then fill and frost as normal!

Frosting These Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes are filled it’s time to frost! I frosted these with a brown sugar version of my cream cheese frosting recipe . But you really could use any blank canvas of buttercream. Such as my Italian Meringue buttercream. But if you’re not feeling that adventurous you can stick to making my best buttercream frosting. It’s simple, whipped, and crazy good.

Of course I have more options for you! Check out The Ultimate Guide To Different Types Of Frosting,or you can check out these recipes:

If you’re new to frosting cupcakes have no fear. I got you. You can check out my The Ultimate Guide To Baking Cupcakes At Home and Ultimate Guide To Decorating Cupcakes For Beginners.

More Cupcakes Recipes To Try:

So are you ready to dive in and try these tomato soup cupcakes?

Tomato Soup Cupcakes
Makes 24

Ingredients
2 (10¾ oz.) cans condensed tomato soup, preferably low sodium
1 tsp. baking soda
3½ c. all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. cinnamon*
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*
½ tsp. ground allspice*
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
¾ c. (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line two twelve-cup cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sprinkle baking soda over the tomato soup and stir well. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and baking powder.
4. Beat butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy, three to four minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat for a few seconds. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with tomato soup, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl again, and mix on low speed for a few more seconds.
5. Fill the prepared cupcake pan about three-quarters full. Bake the cupcakes 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting (from Beantown Baker– originally from Joy the Baker)
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
4-6 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk
depending on desired consistency

Cream the cream cheese in an electric mixer for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter, beating for 1-2 minutes, or until incorporated. Be sure that the two are at room temperature. Cold cream cheese or butter can make your frosting lumpy

Add the brown sugar, pinch of salt and vanilla extract, and beat until incorporated.

Turn off mixer and add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Turn the mixer on a low speed so the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl. Slowly add more sugar alternately with the milk until you reach your desired consistency

Tomato Soup Cupcakes (with Brown sugar cream cheese frosting)