Did you know that cake is a word in French? And that it always denotes something salty? There are endless possibilities for cakes. There are olive cakes, smoked salmon cakes, chicken cakes, savory cakes with chunks of potatoes and carrots. But one of my favorites is lardon cake. Yes, yes there’s that word again. Seriously does not sound desirable in English.
But that’s what we’re going to be making today. Cake aux Lardons. Or, in other terms, bacon bread. Believe me, it’s a really typical thing to serve for a luncheon here, and it’s a pretty darn delicious thing to eat. It tastes good hot or room temperature, so you can bring it on a picnic.
Pre-heat the oven to 325°F or 175° C. Fry up some bacon without letting it get too crispy. Then drain it.
Mix up the dry ingredients – flour, grated Swiss, parmesan, salt, pepper, baking powder, thyme, onion powder and yes – nutmeg. I used gluten-free flour, which works really well.
(If I had remembered to buy shallots when I was out, I would have sautéed one shallot, minced finely, and added that instead of the onion powder. But both work fine).
Then throw in the wet ingredients without ceremony. We’re aiming for simple here, and simple definitely works for this recipe: eggs, milk, vegetable oil and a heaping scoop of dijon mustard.
Mix it up, and at the very last minute, add the bacon bits.
Scrape it into a buttered loaf pan.
And bake for 40 minutes.
Yum, right?
Double yum!
You can let it cool and cut it into chunks to serve as an appetizer, next to a little stand of toothpicks to spear the bacony chunks. It tastes good with a side salad (or a side salad with bits of goat cheese). It also tastes good with homemade iced mint green tea, as well. I only know that because …
*burp
- 1½ cups flour (gluten free works well)
- 1 cup grated Swiss cheese
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan
- 1 t onion powder, or 1 shallot minced and sautéed
- 1 t baking powder
- ¾ t salt
- ¼ t pepper
- ¼ t thyme
- ¼ t nutmeg
- 4 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup milk
- 1 heaping Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 150 grams of bacon bits, about ½ cup
- Preheat the oven to 175°C or 325°F.
- Fry the bacon bits lightly
- Mix the dry ingredients. Sauté the shallot if you decide to use fresh.
- Add the wet ingredients.
- Stir thoroughly, then add the bacon.
- Pour into a greased bread pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Serve warm or room temperature, as a main dish with a side salad or as an appetizer cut into chunks.
- Impress your friends with your French culinary finesse.
Mmmmm…bacon. ;). Must make this!!
Bacon bread. Further proof that the French have got this food thing down.
Yum – seriously..I am making this tomorrow!
I don’t eat bacon, but I bet it tastes yum even without it. Also? I love recipes that you can just throw everything into a bowl and mix.
Bacon bread?
Why haven’t I heard of such a glorious thing?
like they say, EVERYTHING is better w/ Bacon, babe.
Happy Easter.
He is RISEN. Xxxxx
Ha ha like that …. throw in the wet ingredients without ceremony.
The cake looks yummy.
I love easy fixins! 🙂
I have never heard of this, but it sounds fantastic. Trying it soon.