![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/cakejamp.png\" "\\"cakejamp\\"")
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We are just a few days before Christmas and I thought that an easy festive snack idea might be welcome (even though this one is dug out from my old posts, where, maybe due to an old unappealing photo, it passed unnoticed). I have chosen this cake since I bake it very often when I have guests and I find it crowd-pleasing, especially if made with such popular ingredients like olives, ham or sun-dried tomatoes. It also has other advantages. The preparation is very quick, easy and the ingredients\u2019 choice is infinite.\u00a0The most popular combination seems to be the one you see above (I sometimes also add dried tomatoes), but it can be made with leftover roast, vegetables, nuts, cheese…<\/p>\n
Savoury cakes are very popular in France and never called “bread” because in most French regions even visually bread has got nothing to do with a square, moist loaf. In fact they are called by English name “cake”, but pronounced “kek”. Do not look for them in restaurants or caf\u00e9s. They are a kind of home dish served at a party, on a picnic and they are an excellent alternative to sandwiches: for a long trip, breakfast, quick lunch at work, etc..<\/p>\n
A good savoury cake shouldn\u2019t be dry and most recipes call for important amounts of oil. This certainly gives a soft texture, but makes the cake too greasy for my taste (and waistline!). After several \u2013 sometimes tragical \u2013 attempts to modify the recipe I have discovered that the smooth quark cheese (also called fromage blanc) is an excellent \u201csoftener\u201d, giving the necessary moisture. I add a bit of oil too since it gives a better texture. Quark cheese is here an invisible magician \u2013 unless you reveal it, no one will ever guess its presence! I have been making it for many years, always with the quark cheese base, and have never seen anyone discover this ingredient.<\/p>\n
TIPS:\u00a0The cake should be served cold and it can be made in advance, wrapped in cling film and kept in the fridge for two-three days.<\/p>\n
Quark cheese\/fromage blanc is smooth and has a very thick yogurt-like consistency (a bit softer than cream cheese). It can contain up to 40% fat, but I always use the lightest one. I think it’s available in most, at least Western countries.<\/p>\n
I have good news for those living in Asian countries where this cheese might be impossible to find: silken tofu is an ideal substitution. Since it contains more water than this cheese, use 200 g tofu and skip the milk.<\/p>\n
If you manage to find a narrow and long baking dish (I have bought a 4 cm x 30 cm one at sales), it produces cute, two-bite sized, elegant snack slices.<\/p>\n
Preparation: 1h15<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients (for a 30 cm x 10 cm (12 x 4 inches) baking dish or two 4 cm x 30 cm (1,6 x 12 inches) dishes):<\/em><\/p>\n 200 g (7 oz) quark cheese (fromage blanc) (or 200 g silken tofu and skip the milk)<\/em><\/p>\n 125 ml milk (approx. 1\/2 cup)<\/em><\/p>\n 50 ml oil (approx. 1\/5 cup)<\/em><\/p>\n 250 ml flour (approx. 1 cup)<\/em><\/p>\n 1 flat tablespoon salt<\/em><\/p>\n pepper<\/em><\/p>\n 4 eggs<\/em><\/p>\n 1 package baking powder \u00a0(16g)<\/em><\/p>\n 1 tablespoon thyme<\/em><\/p>\n 10-14 tablespoons chopped olives<\/em><\/p>\n 200g (7 oz) ham, bacon, other smoked pork cuts etc. cut into 1\/2 cm cubes<\/em><\/p>\n Preheat the oven to 200\u00b0C.<\/p>\n If using the raw smoked meat, grill it on an empty frying pan until it changes the colour. If you have chosen smoked and cooked ham, simply skip this step.<\/p>\n Mix the eggs, the cheese, the flour, the milk, the baking powder and the oil with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper.<\/p>\n ATTENTION! If you use silken tofu, you need to mix the batter in a food processor or a blender.<\/p>\n Add the rest. Stir well.<\/p>\n Grease a rectangular 30 x 10 cm baking dish or line it with baking paper.<\/p>\n Pour the cake preparation. Bake 1 hour or until the cake is golden brown. Let it cool down. Serve cut into slices and then into 2 or 4 bite-sized pieces or, if using as a sandwich alternative, simply cut into slices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We are just a few days before Christmas and I thought that an easy festive snack idea might be welcome (even though this one is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,10,184,85,71,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8183"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13643,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8183\/revisions\/13643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}