Snack time - Savory Cake

Dear Foodies,


This one is a different take on my buttermilk biscuits. Will come back with the recipe in awhile.

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting ! This cake is really very similar in taste to the buttermilk biscuits I made, but surprisingly does not have the same ingredients. It does not have all that butter and neither does it need buttermilk !! I made this cake around the same time I made the Vanilla-Strawberry muffins, and that would mean I used the same sour-cream and cheese mix (with a slight variation) :-P I think these two recipes can stand proof to the charm that this mix does to your baking !

I had a lot of vague ideas in mind when Meeta announced the theme for this month's MM to be Savory Cakes. I did not want to try a full-fledged cake because I have very rarely been successful. For some reason my egg-less versions make better muffins than cakes !! Would anyone know why ??

Getting back to the recipe in hand, I wanted to use the ricotta cheese lying in the fridge and was trying to sort out the ingredients. I also had some feta cheese that I thought I could use, as it is salty and might be good in the cake. When I had read this post in Meeta's blog I really fell in love with it. I could feel the fluffiness in the souffle and decided to experiment with what I had in the kitchen to get something to imitate that effect.

So what did I finally do ... ??

Off to the recipe. This one involved a lot of experimentation just like all the other of my baking trials.
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup - All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp : Corn Starch
• 1 tsp : Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp : Baking Soda
• 2-3 Tbsp : Whipped Cream
• 1 1/2 tbsp : Sour Cream
• 1 tbsp : Ricotta cheese
• 1 tbsp : Feta cheese,crumbled
• Seasoned with Garlic-Parsley salt and red pepper flakes

For the crust:

• 2 tbsp : Bread crumbs
• 2 tsp : Corn meal
• A fistful of vermicelli ( a huge mistake !!)
• 1/2 tbsp : Melted butter

...and some mozzarella cheese on top.

Procedure:

1. Starting with the crust: I did not have stocked bread crumbs and so drizzled some olive oil on a few slices of bread and sent them into the oven for abt 15 mins till they turned crisp.After they cooled I crumbled them.
2. Added some corn meal and butter & Mix until it forms a ball when pressed lightly with your fingers. I made a huge mistake of adding some vermicelli to this, on cooking it got really hard and was taking away the softness of the cake :-(
   
3. Spread this on the bottom of your baking dish and bake for a few minutes.
4. For the batter: In a small bowl, beat the whipped cream until it forms soft peaks. In another one mix the ricotta cheese and sour cream and beat for a few minutes until well mixed. Even this mixture will become a little fluffy. If you have a electric beater all this should be very easy.
5. Sift all the dry ingredients and slowly fold in the whipped cream, feta cheese(this one was salty so I added less amt of salt), garlic-parsley salt, red pepper flakes and the sour cream+ ricotta cheese mix.
6. Add half the sour cream and ricotta cheese mix and increase as you incorporate all the ingredients. You might not need the whole, but if you think you will need more liquid to get the right consistency, use milk/buttermilk.
7. The batter was not smooth in consistency like cake batter, but a more sticky one. I did not beat the mixture too much.
8. Transfer and spread this over the crust, top with some mozzarella cheese and bake for about 30 mins and test for done-ness.
   
9. You can either transfer the cake onto a serving dish by placing it over the baking dish and inverting so as to have the cake crust upwards on the dish or leave it as is like me since I used a pyrex dish and cut slices as you need :-)

This cake was really great for a light snack in the evening and a perfect accompaniment to my Orzo soup that night. It was fluffy as I had hoped it would be. It reminded me a lot of the buttermilk biscuits but it had no butter in it and hardly any buttermilk ...hmmm. I enjoyed this one and the crust also was something I tried for the first time. It paired really well with the cake and made it more interesting. The one mistake I did was adding the vermicelli. Got a little over adventurous and less thoughtful !! So skip that one step and try this one out, I am sure you will enjoy it too :-)

And now I'm off to mail this to Meeta for her wonderful Monthly Mingle - Savory Cakes' event.