Aperitif time

Silly season is well and truly upon us.  In our house we have two birthdays that we are also celebrating.  We have friends leaving Dubai, family coming to say hi and plenty of parties to compliment this celebratory month.

I am not ashamed to say that I have an obsession with tv cooking shows because I have picked up many a handy tip or recipe idea (even from the most dullest or wacky of presenters), and there are some really interesting people out there cooking interesting food.  One of my favourite tv cooks is Laura Calder, a Canadian Chef who loves all things French.  Somehow she makes the classic french recipes seem very easy and also has some lovely simple home style creations.  My husband’s favourite is her savoury loaf which is a classic french housewives recipe.

Aside from having to cook the bacon and melt the butter, it is a one bowl recipe and 30 minutes later out of the oven appears an extremely moorish cake that is most often served as an aperitif.  The smell that fills your house is also wonderful.  I altered the recipe to suit by adding a little more cheese – couldn’t see the harm in that right?

I think this is a perfect Christmas time nibble as it is a good substantial bite to have with Christmas drinks especially when you have come straight from work on an empty stomach.  The colours of the ingredients also lend themselves to the festivity of the silly season.

I baked this for a farewell picnic at the polo and it was great as it can be served at room temperature and transports just fine.  I am going to bake this again for my boy’s birthdays on the weekend as I know I can trust it is a sure party winner, and it so happens to be another picnic!  Just wish me luck on the rest of the party food, specifically the cakes…. 

Bacon, Olive and Cheese Cake

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

P S- A slather of butter on a cooled slice of cake would not be out of the question! PPS- You can alter this recipe and change the olives and bacon to a goats cheese and semi dried tomato cake and change the rosemary to fresh Thyme (1/2 tablespoon would suffice)

Author: adapted from Laura Calder

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• 4 slices of bacon (any meat that you prefer) cut into 5mm lardons and fried until crispy
• ⅔ cup sliced green olives
• 1 cup of grated gruyere cheese (I have used Comte before, any nutty mountain style cheese is great)
• ¼ -1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1½ cups plain flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• ½ cup melted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius (my oven is gas, 190 degrees celcius)
2. Grease and flour a loaf tinPlace flour, baking powder, pepper, rosemary and cheese into a bowl and stir to combine.
3. Add the eggs and melted butter and mix until a sticky battery dough - not too long though, dont want to make the cake tough
4. Fold through the bacon and olives until well distributed.
5. Turn into pan and bake for 25 - 35 minutes, check it is done with a skewer and it should have a golden crunchy exterior.
6. Wait 10 minutes to turn cake out onto wire rack to cool for ideally minimum 20 minutes.
7. Slice carefully with a serrated bread knife so as not to break the cake, it can be a little crumbly.

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