When I posted on Facebook that I was working on this recipe for Mon Food Blog, I got all sorts of reactions. Most of them with a gasp in the middle and a question mark at the end.

The concept of a savoury cake is rather strange to our North American palate but it is common in France and Italy. A savoury cake accompanies perfectly a late afternoon cocktail or a chilled glass of wine and can be the star of your aperitivo. It was also a hit for brunch at our place.

Use your imagination to come up with flavour combinations of your own. Here are a few of my favourites: prosciutto and fresh figs, pancetta and rosemary, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella or salami, dates and pistachios.

The goat cheese I used is called ”Le Cendrillon”, (the Cinderella) from a small Québec company. It won the gold medal for the best cheese in its category at the World cheese Awards in 2009. This semi-firm goat cheese is finished with ashes, giving it its characteristic colour and flavour. If you have a chance to taste it, don’t skip it.

For one loaf, you will need:

250 g flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
125 g prosciutto slices, cut into 1 cm squares
100 g chèvre, cut into small chunks
1 pear, peeled, cored and finely diced
4 large eggs
100 g whole milk
150 ml olive oil
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 teaspoon kosher salt
finely ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, prosciutto, chèvre, pear, salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside.
2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs until light and fluffy, a few minutes. Add the milk, yogurt and olive oil and combine.
3. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir very gently with a spatula just to combine. Do not over mix.
4. Transfer to a cake mood lined with parchment and lightly sprayed with olive oil and cook in the middle of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
5. Let cool completely, slice and serve with your favorite drink.