Rose Levy Beranbaum's Chocolate Tomato Cake with Mystery Ganache

Ingredients (16)

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup tomato soup (preferably Campbell's, one can)
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons (or 2 3/4 cups) cake flour (or bleached all-purpose flour), sifted into the cup and leveled off
• 2 cups superfine sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Mystery Ganache (recipe follows)
• Special Equipment: Two 9 by 2-inch round cake pans, coated with shortening, topped with parchment rounds, then coated with baking spray and flour.
• 12 ounces dark chocolate, 60% to 62% cocoa, chopped
• Almost 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) heavy cream
• 1/4 cup tomato soup, preferably Campbell's
• About 59 4-inch Pirouette Wafer Cookies, preferably Pepperidge Farm brand (2 cans, optional)
• Red-tinted buttercream and red or clear piping gel (store bought is fine, optional)