Skip to main content

goat cheese, fig and walnut apéro cake

 

We're planning a trip to France 🇫🇷  this summer and of course I'm already thinking about the restaurants we will try and the meals, including apéro that we will be enjoying during our visit.  My husband and I are  going to the wedding of a dear friend in the South of France, in Antibes to be precise.  We are staying by the outdoor market which is wonderful, I visited the market a few years ago.  We will be surrounded by bakeries and cheese shops as well as assorted take away food emporiums.  Of course I had to take a small apartment in the middle of the old town which has many outdoor places to sip Rosé🍷  while nibbling on appetizers or apéro as they say in France, which sounds delightful.  

I made this savory quick bread or cake inspired by Dorie Greenspan from The NY Times, so we could practice apéro -savoring small bites of thick sliced bread with glasses of crisp cold white wine- before dinner at home in Northern California before our trip this summer to the south of France.  I played around with the recipe, both changing measurements and adding a few additional ingredients, so here is my goat cheese, fig and walnut cake adaption.  I used Stonehouse Organic Olio Nuovo or new oil, the first olive oil off the press each year, it is bright green, full bodied with a fresh peppery finish.  I'm very happy with my creation and I hope you enjoy 😉 too.

Ingredients for Recipe for Goat Cheese, Fig and Walnut Apéro Cake
Serves 8

4 ounces soft goat cheese, chilled
1 small tangerine, zested
6 dried Mission figs from California, stems removed and cut into small bits
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh herbs; parsley, thyme, rosemary, mint
1&3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs, at room temperature 
1/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey


Preheat the oven to 350F and butter or spray a large loaf pan (8 or 9 inches).
Cut the cold goat cheese into small cubes and gently toss them with the grated zest, set aside.
Toss together the figs, walnuts and fresh herbs, set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and honey.
Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir with a heavy spatula until just mixed.
Gently stir in the goat cheese and fig mixture until just mixed.
Spread the dough into the prepared pan.
Bake for 36-38 minutes or until cake is browned and pulling away from sides of the pan.
Test the cake with a cake tester that comes away clean, try not to drag it through any melted goat cheese.
Wait about 5 minutes then unmold the cake and continue to cool on a metal rack.
Cut into thick slices and serve, either slightly warm or at room temperature.
Keep the cake well wrapped and it will last for a few days on the counter.


Comments

  1. For example, players can now bet cash straight from a credit score account, somewhat than dropping coins in for each pull. Players also can hold observe of their wins and losses extra simply, as can the casinos. The operation is also be|can be} less complicated in fashionable machines -- occasion that they} need to, players 빅카지노 can merely press a button to play a recreation, somewhat than pull the handle. After World War II the machines came into worldwide use as governments had been drawn by the prospect of tax revenue.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

springtime chamomile tea cake with strawberry icing

 Good grief, Easter is in the rear view mirror and we are deep into this new year.  And once again it's tea time at my house.  This chamomile tea cake is a beautiful sweet addition to any tea ritual, especially my favorite, chamomile tea, which I rediscovered in my hotel room in Carmel earlier this fast moving year.  I highly recommend a slice of chamomile tea cake with strawberry 🍓 icing with a cup of chamomile tea to just take a moment and slow this year down.  Baking with tea is both creative and fun.  Earlier this year I made Earl Gray sugar cookies which are made using the same method of infusing the butter with loose tea.  For my tea cake I also rubbed the lemon zest into the sugar -another way to lend a pop of citrus to your baking. The strawberry icing is made using freeze dried strawberries, I pulverize them in my spice mill and then they are pressed through a fine sieve into the confectioner's sugar.  In addition to using lemon zest rubbed into the sugar for the cake

pear jam with saffron infused honey and cardamom

  Pear Jam with Saffron Infused Honey and Cardamom The summer after high school I worked sorting Bartlett pears at the Scotts Valley Fruit Exchange in Lake County California.  I thought I would never touch or eat another pear again in my life. But, here I am years years later making pear jam in my kitchen with pears, honey and saffron grown in Lake County.  A few weeks ago My husband and I went to visit friends in Kelseyville at their finca, they generously supplied me with the pears from their orchard-Finca Castelero- for my jam.  I will never forget getting up early in the morning and riding my bike across the valley from my cousin's house to work a long hot day sorting pears.  I remember thinking whoever came up with the idea of creating a cooperative to sort, pack and send pears from family farms, including my cousin's family farm on what is now called Hendricks road, to markets all over the country really had a good idea!  I never looked at pears in the grocery store the s

braised romano beans with heirloom tomatoes and purple leaf sweet basil

  Romano beans braised in heirloom tomato sauce, shallots and garlic make an easy summer side dish -excellent served with grilled fish and potato purée.  I know because that's what we had for dinner last Saturday night.  I happily used purple basil from my own herb pots that are now watered with leftover shower water.  We have many more months of drought ahead of us in California and apparently mask wearing when in public, no not in the car. I appreciate our farmers markets more than ever, thank you farmers for romano beans and heirloom tomatoes and also myself for the fresh purple basil. Such a treat to find fresh romano green beans at the farmers market; they hold up to a fairly long, about 20 minute braise and become tender in the tomato broth from the heirloom tomatoes.  🍅 This is one of those simple good veg recipes. Ingredients and Recipe for Romano Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes and Purple Leaf Sweet Basil Serves 2-4 1 pound fresh romano beans, washed and trimmed 2 tablespoon