Full Size pic of whole cake - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5526325/

I feel like rambling here a little on my thought process as I developed this recipe earlier today. I haven't seen anything like it, no recipe to go off of, but it's like a casserole, but has some cake elements to it. It's definitely all good though! I'll be including in my scraps a close up of the large full cake momentarily as well.



Though, my thought process... it's a scary thing at times.

I went to the kitchen this morning with the idea of making an egg, onion, and cheese casserole for a breakfast and munching on later. I look through for a good pan to bake in and I spy my Bundt pan that I have, which is absolutely cool looking and I've only used a couple of times. Got it from one of my cousins way back as a birthday gift. Well, I was thinking "Okay, how can I use this for a casserole?" Now, I could just cook in it... but what point would that have? You'd really loose the effect if you can't plate it... but, plating up a casserole without it going all over? Well, once it is cooled, sure, but I'm impatient enough, and for breakfast I like it hot.

So, I slice up my onions, celery, and start cooking. I add in salt because I realize I want it to be more of a sweat than just browning. The salt helps draw water out of the vegetables, which I want done here because if they are baking and they let off to much moisture you end up with a water logged casserole, or in this case cake. That won't be all that tasty, and when I try and pop it out it would really make a mess and just fall all over. I didn't want that.

While that was sweating I mixed up the eggs. I first started with the four eggs, and mixed in the mustard and mayo. The mustard has components that help emulsification which helps bind the egg and mayo together to a smooth mix. Then added in my seasonings (And while I added caraway seed, it didn't stand out much which really surprised me since it is a strong flavor, next time I should use more. ) which add for flavor. The mix needed more volume, and while milk would have been great, I had fresh chicken stock so, why not use it, right? So I did and then, well, I was concerned if the eggs would produce fully enough binding action to make the "Casserole" flip out and stay whole... so, I added a bit of flour till it was just a little thick and whisked a bit extra to develop the gluten. This provides structure that would help it to keep it's shape. Still quite eggy though!

Finally as for building in the bundt pan. I thought about cheese in first for "Cheese on top" BUT, cheese in a 350 degree oven right next to metal is probably going to turn into a mess! Yet, I don't want it in last or else it'll be on the bottom, and that's no fun, right? So, using tongs I put in the onion first. The Tongs make a difference to make sure it was in loosely, I wanted the egg mixture to be able to get around the onion to create form as the protein would coagulate as it cooks and keep it all together. Then add in the cheese for the middle along with more onion, and finish off with egg that would move into the mixture and bind it all up. Creating a sort of layered effect in the dish.

It, well, came out great!

Though, it looked a little dull on the plate... so I made a quick sauce.

3 Tbsp of Sour cream, 1 tbsp of dijon mustard. Mix it together and then spoon over slices of the cake for "Icing" to it. A nice tang to go with the breakfast cake. Though this recipe could be modified easily enough to incorporate it to many ingredients!

Oh, and for making it through all this, I'll tell you a truth... the picture here does not use bacon. I used butter. Why? Well, because I forgot to pre-thaw my bacon out and it's like a brick. So, I used... a couple of hot dogs. Totally ghetto. The recipe below is how I WOULD have made it had I the bacon.


The dish itself though is Lactose free (Minus the sauce), no added sugar, easy to modify to vegetarian, and you can sub rice flour for the all-purpose flour to make it gluten free too. I wouldn't call this a health dish though, but it's definitely tasty, and overall not to bad for you.


Anyway, that's enough rambling here. Lets go onto the recipe.


THE RECIPE --- Below here ---

One day, I was going to make an egg onion casserole with bacon for breakfast. Though as I started I got this idea to bake it in a bundt pan, and thought of potential problems and, with a bit of tinkering I came out with a rather sturdy, cake like casserole. Is it a casserole? Yes, is it a cake? Well, yes too. It’s also a great amount of delicious, and very flexible in how you make it. Use your favorite vegetables and seasonings to make it your way.

No sugar added to this dish, despite being a “cake” and if you are using aged cheddar it’s lactose free to boot. Gluten free? Sub some rice flour or other type. Vegetarian? Sub two Tbsp butter for the bacon.

The vegetables and meat:
4 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 onion, julienne
1 rib of celery, chopped finely
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
½ tsp salt

Start with a pan on medium high heat and add in the bacon. Cook for a couple minutes then add in the remaining ingredients and cook on medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent and have lost a lot of volume. We are performing here a “Sweat” of the vegetables and trying to draw out moisture. This is important in a casserole here so that it doesn’t let out all that moisture while baking, which could potentially create a wet, soggy, falling apart mess in the oven.



Also, get ready about one cup of shredded sharp chedder as the veggies cook, and setup up your “cake”.

The Cake:
I’m calling it a cake, though it’s not sweetened at all.

4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ tsp Caraway seed (Optional)
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable stock)
½ cup flour

Whisk together the eggs, Mustard, and Mayonnaise until smooth. Mix in slowly the broth and other seasonings. This is a great place to add other personalized flavors as well. Mix in the flour with a whisk and beat for about thirty seconds. This develops the gluten, slightly, to give extra structure to the cake.

Building it:
Place some of the onion mixture loosely in the bottom of the pan. Next pour some of the egg mixture over and shake to settle. Sprinkle on some cheese, then onion, then remaining cheese and finally last of the egg. Tap to settle and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 - 35 minutes. Let stand at least five minutes before upturning, then slice and enjoy!

A simple Sauce:

Mix 3 tbsp Sour Cream with 1 tbsp dijon mustard. Spoon over slices of the "cake" and enjoy a little tang to the dish.