‘Le cake’ aux olives et reblochon

Name: ‘Le cake’ aux olives et reblochon
Yield: Makes 3 loaves, each serving 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour; (1 loaf for now; 2 for the freezer); 175 ml crème fraîche; ¼ tsp cayenne pepper; 85 g Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated; 1 tsp salt and plenty of ground black pepper; 1 large egg; handful of black olives, rinsed, dried, pitted and coarsely chopped; 110 g cubed Reblochon or other semi-soft cheese; 225 ml milk; 75 g lardons; 40 g melted butter; 2 tbsp freshly chopped herbs; 1 tbsp baking powder

Preparation info

Makes 3 loaves, each serving
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Table in the Tarn

By Orlando Murrin

Published 2008

About

In the past three years French cooks have been swept by a craze for ‘les cakes’. I am not sure how the misunderstanding occurred, but by cake they do not mean something round and sweet, but something loaf-shaped and (usually) savoury.

Ingredients

(1 loaf for now; 2 for the freezer)
75 g lardons

Europe
France
Starter
Cake
Mediterranean

Method

We serve the Raynaudes ‘cake’ in slices with aperitifs - it is especially elegant when baked in a dainty cocktail size. I managed to persuade a local catering supplier to stock foil loaf tins of 6x18cm - this recipe makes enough for 3 - or you can make one big loaf in a 13x24 loaf tin. You can vary the flavouring as you choose - fried mushrooms, diced ham, herbs or other tasty morsels.