You know how much Ilike a good cake. Andif you don't know,well, you can imagine. I mean, whodoesn't?
Trouble is, my esteemed River Cottage colleague Pam "the Cake" (formerly "the Jam") Corbin has pretty much cornered the current market, with her lovely new book, Cakes (Bloomsbury, £14.99). It's so jam-Pam-packed with delights that,with a hankering to share something cakey with you from myown repertoire yet running scared of the competition, I'm goingto have to move into radical baking territory.
So how about savoury cakes? Withnot a shred of sugar? Cheese instead of chocolate, olives instead of oranges, maybe even some meat in the mix, too… And, no, this is notjustme losing my cake marbles in afit of professional jealousy. TheFrench have been at it for a while – inposh Parisian bakeries, savoury cakes, or cakes salés are trèsdans le vent. Must be worth atry, I thought.
And I'm glad I did. I've found savoury cakes quick and easy, highlyadaptable and, most important, verydelicious. They areperfect for elevenses or, servedwith alittle salad or even justacouple of raw carrots on the side, avery agreeable light lunch.
They're also a great way of using up small amounts of leftover roast chicken, smoked fish, bacon or oddends of cheese. You can add finely diced roasted vegetables suchas beetroot, courgette or peppers, too – just stick to the proportions of flour, eggs, fat and liquid I've used in today's recipes, and play with the main flavours andseasonings, depending on yourmood and what you have in thecupboard. Use all-wheat flour, ifyou like, or, for a more substantial texture, combine flour half and half with fine cornmeal or polenta.
These cakes also work well in different sizes. Small ones, made inmuffin tins or mini individual loaftins, are great for packed lunches or picnics. And bring a larger one, made in a square or round cake tin, or in a larger loaf tin,to a table of hungry friends or family, and it'll go as fast as any jamsponge or chocolate sandwich. It's time to salé forth!
Ham and olive cake
Cut into thinnish slices, this makes a good nibble before dinner served with a chilled glass ofsherry, cider or dry white wine. Makes one 20cm round or square cake, a loaf or about 10 mini cakes.
150ml olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing the tin
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp picked fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
100g parmesan, coarsely grated
180g cooked ham, roughly chopped
130g green olives, stoned and roughly chopped
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
150g milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Grease a 1.5-litre loaf tin with olive oil, line it with baking parchment and brush the parchment with more oil. (Alternatively, you can make this inmuffin tins, or mini loaf tins, which simply need brushing with oiland dusting lightly with flour.)
Sift the flour, baking powder and paprika into a bowl. Stir in the thyme, parmesan, ham, olives, saltand pepper. In a jug, whisk together the oil, milk and eggs. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients until just combined and pour the lot into the prepared tin (or tins).
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden and a toothpick or skewer comes out clean. (Muffin tins or smaller loaves will take 12-15 minutes.) Leave to cool in the tin forfive minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Goat's cheese with raisins and hazelnuts
As with all these cakes, you can vary the ingredients for this depending on what you have to hand. For instance, this works wellwith walnuts in place of the hazelnuts and with other dried fruitin place of the raisins – finely chopped dried apricots are particularly good with the goat's cheese. Makes one 20cm round orsquare cake, a loaf, or about 10mini cakes.
4 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra forgreasing
200g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
100g grated hard goat's cheese (orparmesan)
2 tbsp picked flat-leaf parsley, finelychopped
3 eggs
100g plain yoghurt
150g soft goat's cheese, roughly broken into small chunks
60g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
60g raisins or sultanas
Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Grease a 1.5-litre loaf tin with olive oil, line with baking parchment and brush the parchment with oil, too. (Alternatively, you can make this in muffin tins, or mini loaf tins, which simply need brushing with oil and dusting lightly with flour.)
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Whisk in the grated cheese and parsley. In ajug, whisk the eggs, yoghurt and four tablespoons of olive oil. Gently fold this into the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to overmix, then fold inthe soft goat's cheese, nuts and raisins.
Spoon the cake mixture into theprepared tin (or tins) and bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (Muffin tins or smaller loaves take about 12-15 minutes.) Leave to cool in the tins for five minutes, then turn out on toa wire rack to cool completely.
Carrot and feta cake
By combining fine cornmeal or polenta with ordinary flour, you get a more substantial texture to the loaf that works particularly well with savoury ingredients. Makes one 20cm round or square cake, aloaf, orabout 10 mini cakes.
50g butter, plus a little extra for greasing the tin
1 small onion, peeled and finelychopped
1 tsp ground cumin
100g plain flour
100g cornmeal
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots (about 200g), peeled andgrated
180g feta, crumbled
2 tsp dill fronds, finely chopped
3 eggs, lightly beaten
150ml milk
Warm the butter in a small frying pan over a medium-low heat and sauté the onion until soft and translucent. Add the cumin, stir fora minute, then set aside to cool.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Butter a 1.5-litre loaf tin, or aloose-bottomed Victoria sandwich tin, and line with baking parchment. Butter the parchment, too (you can also make smaller ones in muffin tins or mini loaf tins, in which case simply butter the smaller moulds and dust with flour).
Sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the cooled cooked onion, grated carrot, feta and dill. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, then mix into the flour mixture untiljust combined, and pour into the prepared tin (or tins).
Bake large cakes for 40 minutes, smaller ones for 12-15 minutes, untila toothpick or skewer comes outwith no crumbs attached. Leave to cool in the tin forfive minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
