Give me your best cake salé recipe!
August 25, 2021 4:46 AM Subscribe
I am putting together a birthday dinner for my girlfriend who can't taste sweet. I would like to make her a cake salé or other savory cake in lieu of a sweet cake but I have never made a savory cake before and I don't have time to try out any recipes before the night of the dinner.
She likes things like cheese (cheddar is a favorite), sausage, bacon, green olives and jalapeños. I am planning on making it in a bundt cake pan so it is a bit more aesthetically pleasing than just baking it in a loaf pan. It seems like the biggest complaint people have with these cakes is that there is a tendency for them to be a bit heavy/dense often as a result of recipes being too heavy on the oil/cheese ingredients. Please share your tried and true savory cake recipes!
She likes things like cheese (cheddar is a favorite), sausage, bacon, green olives and jalapeños. I am planning on making it in a bundt cake pan so it is a bit more aesthetically pleasing than just baking it in a loaf pan. It seems like the biggest complaint people have with these cakes is that there is a tendency for them to be a bit heavy/dense often as a result of recipes being too heavy on the oil/cheese ingredients. Please share your tried and true savory cake recipes!
There is Chef John's Savory Summer Cheesecake
posted by koahiatamadl at 5:44 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by koahiatamadl at 5:44 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is a Thanksgiving staple in our house.
posted by shadygrove at 6:32 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by shadygrove at 6:32 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Corn bread is easily made with 1/2 wheat flour, and you can use sour cream for part of the dairy, and add jack cheese and chopped jalapeños. Decorate with jalapeño poppers.
posted by theora55 at 6:49 AM on August 25, 2021
posted by theora55 at 6:49 AM on August 25, 2021
Not cake (sorry!), but I've made all of these savoury muffins:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle /2010/jun/05/ savoury-muffin-recipes-fearnley-whittingstall
They are all really good - I especially like the carrot, spinach and cumin. I'm sure they would all work in a loaf tin rather than as muffins - you'd have to cook them for a bit longer. If they start to burn/overbrown, then cover the top with some foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
Here are suggestions for savoury cakes from the same author but I haven't tried them...
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ 2011/apr/09/savoury-cake-recipes
posted by sedimentary_deer at 7:09 AM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle /2010/jun/05/ savoury-muffin-recipes-fearnley-whittingstall
They are all really good - I especially like the carrot, spinach and cumin. I'm sure they would all work in a loaf tin rather than as muffins - you'd have to cook them for a bit longer. If they start to burn/overbrown, then cover the top with some foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
Here are suggestions for savoury cakes from the same author but I haven't tried them...
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ 2011/apr/09/savoury-cake-recipes
posted by sedimentary_deer at 7:09 AM on August 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Ottolenghi cauliflower cake is delicious, healthy, and very attractive if you do the sliced onions and seeds on top. I made some meatloaf cupcakes frosted with mashed potatoes once and they were great.
posted by music for skeletons at 7:24 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by music for skeletons at 7:24 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Disclaimer that I haven't made either of these specific recipes directly, but I trust the two cooks impeccably:
* Clotilde Dusoulier has this recipe for a feta and fresh herb cake salé, and this blog post is also the reason I even know what a cake salé even is.
* David Lebovitz has this recipe for a corn flour bread with nuts and seeds. (Note that he is using corn flour, or masa harina, and not corn meal.) It does call for yeast, though, so it will be a process.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:58 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
* Clotilde Dusoulier has this recipe for a feta and fresh herb cake salé, and this blog post is also the reason I even know what a cake salé even is.
* David Lebovitz has this recipe for a corn flour bread with nuts and seeds. (Note that he is using corn flour, or masa harina, and not corn meal.) It does call for yeast, though, so it will be a process.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:58 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've made the feta & herb cake EmpressCallipygos mentioned dozens of times. We usually make it two or three times a month, it's our standard breakfast around here.
We vary the herbs and it's flexible with the cheese as well (we've done a caprese version with chopped sundried tomatoes, bufalo mozzerella and basil as well as a dilly with lots of cracked pepper and queso fresco). We've never tried it with cheddar, as I think it needs a cheese that has "pop" in small pieces. You could probably do it with bacon bits.
It's a loaf cake/bread, not the sort of thing that you' be able to serve looking like a "cake".
posted by typetive at 9:04 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
We vary the herbs and it's flexible with the cheese as well (we've done a caprese version with chopped sundried tomatoes, bufalo mozzerella and basil as well as a dilly with lots of cracked pepper and queso fresco). We've never tried it with cheddar, as I think it needs a cheese that has "pop" in small pieces. You could probably do it with bacon bits.
It's a loaf cake/bread, not the sort of thing that you' be able to serve looking like a "cake".
posted by typetive at 9:04 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
It sounds like a cake salé is what we'd call a savory quick bread--if you do a search for that a lot of things come up.
Although the one from Chocolate and Zucchini that EmpressCallipygos linked sounds amazing and I think I'm going to make it this weekend!
And I don't see why you couldn't bake it in a bundt pan to make it more festive. You might need to double the recipe to fill up your bundt pan, depending on the size. Decorate with edible flowers!
posted by exceptinsects at 10:10 AM on August 25, 2021
Although the one from Chocolate and Zucchini that EmpressCallipygos linked sounds amazing and I think I'm going to make it this weekend!
And I don't see why you couldn't bake it in a bundt pan to make it more festive. You might need to double the recipe to fill up your bundt pan, depending on the size. Decorate with edible flowers!
posted by exceptinsects at 10:10 AM on August 25, 2021
To redirect and build on the above:
I've made the feta & herb cake EmpressCallipygos mentioned dozens of times [...] It's a loaf cake/bread, not the sort of thing that you' be able to serve looking like a "cake".
Oh yay that it's gotten someone testing it!
In terms of the "can it look like a cake" thing - I've found that the batter from a standard "fits in one 9x5 loaf tin" recipe fits perfectly in a smaller, 6-cup-size bundt pan and that can help make it look prettier, so that may be the way to go. I actually use something like this for when I make quick breads at home because the little ridgies make for measuring portion sizes really easy as opposed to trying to cut a standard loaf-shape straight (I have following-straight-line issues sometimes).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:11 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I've made the feta & herb cake EmpressCallipygos mentioned dozens of times [...] It's a loaf cake/bread, not the sort of thing that you' be able to serve looking like a "cake".
Oh yay that it's gotten someone testing it!
In terms of the "can it look like a cake" thing - I've found that the batter from a standard "fits in one 9x5 loaf tin" recipe fits perfectly in a smaller, 6-cup-size bundt pan and that can help make it look prettier, so that may be the way to go. I actually use something like this for when I make quick breads at home because the little ridgies make for measuring portion sizes really easy as opposed to trying to cut a standard loaf-shape straight (I have following-straight-line issues sometimes).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:11 AM on August 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I went for the feta & herb cake EmpressCallipygos linked and it came out great! I made two different versions - bacon, sharp cheddar and scallions and jalapeno with queso fresco (these were the ingredients I had on hand). They came out amazing and definitely would be great for breakfast - eggy with just enough "cake" feel. Everyone really enjoyed them! Thank you all for the suggestions!
posted by a22lamia at 7:10 AM on August 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by a22lamia at 7:10 AM on August 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
1) Make a big pot of shredded duck confit
2) Make a gravy thickened with gelatin
3) Shred the duck even more. Mix the two and pack into your pan(s). You just need enough gravy to bind all the meat together
4) Put in the fridge and let it set
5) Make cranberry sauce and mashed sweet potatoes. Give the potatoes the consistency of icing.
If you were packing this into two round cake pans spread the cranberry sauce between the layers and the sweet potatoes around the outside. Since this is a bundt you can spread this in some other attractive manner.
I recognize it does not contain the ingredients you mention, but this could be adapted to pretty much any meat and "icing". You could, for instance, do steak confit and drizzle cheese over the top in some hamburger approximation.
Another alternative is to just make a meatloaf in your bundt pan, though that may not be as exciting.
posted by Anonymous at 5:22 AM on August 25, 2021