Cauliflower cake
Adapted from the cauliflower cake in Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty More, this recipe surprises and delights guests at dinner parties but also works very well as a light meal when served with a fresh salad.
Ingredients
- 1 medium cauliflower broken into florets and steamed until tender (about 5 minutes in the microwave)
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 red onion chopped, keeping aside a few onion rings for decorating the cake
- olive or canola oil spray for frying onions
- 1 sprig of rosemary leaves removed and roughly chopped
- 1 handful fresh herbs (oregano or basil work well) washed and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup self-raising flour
- 2 tsp turmeric this gives the cake a beautiful color
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 6 large eggs
- 1/4 cup plain yoghurt or milk you might need slightly more or less, see instructions
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp nigella seeds not essential, for decorating. Black sesame seeds will also work.
- 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, to top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 C.
- Fry the onions, garlic and rosemary in a non-stick pan using cooking spray. Add small splashes of water to the pan if needed to prevent sticking.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, eggs, turmeric, fresh herbs, and 1 tsp salt together in a bowl. Add enough yoghurt / milk to make the mixture the consistency of a runny batter. If in doubt, make it slightly thinner rather than slightly thicker – you don’t want the end result dry.
- Add the cooked onion and steamed cauliflower to the batter and mix to combine.
- Transfer to a prepared baking dish of choice. A round dish works well. I line the dish with tinfoil or baking paper to make removing the cake easier.
- Top with Parmesan cheese, sesame and nigella seeds, and then the reserved onion rings.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. For a cheat version, you could bake it in the microwave for about 10 minutes if you are short on time.
- Let the cake stand for about 20 minutes before serving with a fresh salad. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional information per portion (1/4 of the recipe, a very generous slice): 283 kcal, 11.4g fat, 28.2g carbohydrate, 6.3g fiber, 20.1g protein.
If served as a side dish at a dinner party, it could serve up to 8.