thunder rolls

For over a month now my students have been begging me to make Thunder Cake.  (for those of you who aren't up on your children's literature, it is a recipe that Patricia Polacco includes in a story about her childhood titled after the dessert)  I read the book aloud to my students to show how sensory images are used in writing.  With such a high demand for the treat, of course I decided to make it...but it didn't come without a price.  If I was going to make it, I was going to make it work for me of course ;)  We have a classroom economy where students earn tickets (money) for completing their homework and classroom jobs.  And if you give a child a ticket, they are going to need to spend it.  So, once a month we have a class store.  I try to keep the store limited to things that cost me little to no money (pencils, erasers, hw passes, computer time, etc), but there is always a food treat as well.  This month my treat was Thunder Cake.  I was a bit concerned about how these cakes would turn out since the "secret ingredient" is pureed tomatos.  The cakes weren't as sweet as I would like, but slap a little frosting on them and they were just fine.  'Traditionally' Thunder Cake is served with buttercream icing and garnished with a strawberry, but I just couldn't resist using chocolate icing and sprinkles--lets just say I know my customers (what 10 year old doesn't love sprinkles?)  Although it isn't my new favorite recipe, the kids didn't seem to notice.  And thats all that mattered :)