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WHEN FRENCH WOMEN BAKE

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Why would a French woman want to bake?  Not out of necessity.  In towns large and small, professional bakers produce crusty baguettes, dense country loaves and golden rounds of brioche every day.

For the same reason a French homemaker has little incentive to bake dessert.  She can simply go to her local pastry shop or supermarket and select from a fabulous assortment tarts, éclairs, cookies, puff pastry  and layer cakes.  Some pastry shops excel at making candy and rich ice cream as well.  If she bought a different patisserie each day, it would take more than a month to sample them all.  (Note to self – try this sometime.)

When French women do bake at home it’s usually a special treat not available anywhere.   Enter, Le Cake, the most recent home baking phenomenon.   It is a savory bread leavened with baking powder.  There are sweet ones similar to our zucchini and banana breads, but the ones flavored with herbs, vegetables and cheese are most in vogue.

breadbowl


I recently baked a Cake with all the flavors I love from Provence: sun-dried tomatoes, capers, fresh basil and grated cheese. The loaf disappeared quickly because I kept finding more uses for it.

A toasted slice was great topped with an egg for a weekend breakfast.  At lunch I made an open-faced sandwich covering slices with goat cheese then melting it under the broiler. Le Cake comes in handy at dinner too, as a replacement for rice or potatoes.  It’s particularly good with roast lamb, pork or a chicken stew.  I could go on!

Le Cake is currently a cocktail hour favorite in France. It’s tasty partnered with wine – some recipes even include wine as an ingredient.  In addition to the recipe that follows, I’m including a link to Roquefort Cake a recipe from the Charente region.  It seems I’ve been teaching a Le Cake recipe for years and didn’t know it!

CAKE WITH PRESERVED TOMATOES, CAPERS AND BASIL

cakemisIngredients:

3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes or 6 ounces of

preserved tomato pieces in oil, drained

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt and freshly ground

black pepper, to taste

3 large eggs

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese

¼ cup small capers, drained

1 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced and lightly

packed








Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly oil a standard bread pan.
  • If using the dry tomatoes, cover them in boiling water and let them steep.  Drain them, pat dry and chop.  If using tomato pieces in oil, strain off the oil and pat dry the tomato pieces.
  • Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
  • In another bowl, mix the eggs with the milk and oil.
  • Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mix slowly to avoid lumps.
  • Fold the cheese, capers, tomato pieces and basil carefully into the batter to evenly distribute the ingredients.
  • Turn the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.
  • Cool on a rack before unmolding.

Toasted Roquefort Cake with Walnuts: http://www.chezm.com/welcome-to-recipes/66-baking-powder-breads/351-toasted-roquefort-cake-with-walnuts

Madelaine Bullwinkel
Madelaine Bullwinkel