Cauliflower Cake and a Guest Post

I have been invited to write a guest post for Dena from Gathering Flavors. If you’ve ever met Dena you are in for a real treat. I can’t remember exactly how I first discovered her blog but I was instantly impressed by the beauty of her photography, her recipes and style of writing. It’s funny how you can meet someone in this internet world and feel like you have so much in common with them. Please stop by Gathering Flavors to see the recipe for Cauliflower cake and to check out her beautiful blog.

Recipe has been slightly adapted from, “Plenty More”, a cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi.

I’ve been a fan of Yotam’s for ages. He is a chef that knows how to make vegetables the front and center of a meal. Take this cauliflower cake; sometimes cauliflower can be bland. But not here, the vegetable is celebrated with wonderful spices and herbs to make a delicious comforting dish. As this little gem bakes in the oven your home will be filled with the most amazing aroma. And in the end no one will miss the meat.

There was one thing that was kind of odd to me. The recipe called for 1/3 teaspoon of turmeric, not a problem right. Well when I went to grab for my measuring spoons, (I have 2 different sets) there was no 1/3 teaspoon, on either set. That struck me as a little strange, are they all like this and I never paid attention. Hmm……..

I followed the recipe fairly closely except I roasted the cauliflower and did not use as much olive oil and was very happy with the results. I hope you are too.

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower (cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch florets)

1 medium red onion (divided) (cut 4 rounds of end, coarsely chop rest of onion)

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)

½ teaspoon fresh rosemary (finely chopped)

7 large eggs

½ cup fresh basil (chopped)

1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1/3 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Salt and pepper

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 400°F

Line baking sheet with aluminum foil or lightly coat with oil. Add cauliflower florets and drizzle with olive oil and toss to lightly coat. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven, set aside.

Prepare a 9 ½ inch spring form cake pan by buttering sides and bottom of pan. Add parchment to the bottom, first drawing a circle, sticking onto the buttered bottom and then butter the top of the parchment. (Yotam melts butter to do this, I used a pat of butter and a paper towel, also he uses parchment around the sides too.) Add seeds to the sides of the inside of pan.

In a small skillet add 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, rosemary and coarsely chopped onion. Sauté about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened. Remove from heat, set aside.

When onions have cooled add to a large bowl and add eggs and basil, whisk well, then add flour, baking powder, turmeric, Parmesan and a little black pepper. Whisk until smooth, then add cauliflower.

Pour cauliflower mixture into prepared spring form pan. Spread evenly, top with the red onion slices.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and knife inserted in middle comes out clean. Let set for at least 20 minutes before serving, remove from pan.

Cake is best served warm or room temperature. Cut into slices. Serve along side a nice green salad. Enjoy!