Sweet-Looking Savory Loaf Cake

Name: Sweet-Looking Savory Loaf Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: Fresh liquid cream ½ cup; Whole milk 0.4 cup; Extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp; Eggs medium 3; Type 00 flour 1.67 cups; Caciocavallo cheese 3.5 oz; Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese to grate 3.5 oz; Prosciutto cotto diced 3.5 oz; Peas ½ cup; Sun-dried tomatoes in oil 1.75 oz; Instant yeast for salted preparations 5 ¼ tsp; Nutmeg to taste; Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese to grate 7 oz; Whole milk 2.1 cups; Butter 3 ½ tbsp; Type 00 flour &frac13; cup; Fine salt 1 pinch; Black pepper to taste; Nutmeg to taste

562

Calories per serving

Energy Kcal 562
Carbohydrates g 31.1
of which sugars g 6.6
Protein g 29.6
Fats g 35.5
of which saturated fat g 17.62
Fiber g 1.7
Cholesterol mg 161
Sodium mg 776

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Serving: 8
Cost: Low

PRESENTATION

A savory loaf cake that looks exactly like a sweet one — that's the point of this recipe. The shape, the glaze, the golden crust: everything signals dessert until you cut into it and find peas, prosciutto cotto, sun-dried tomatoes, and two kinds of cheese layered through the batter. The surprise is the whole appeal, and it lands every time at an aperitivo or appetizer table where no one is expecting it.

The batter follows the same logic as a standard loaf cake but replaces sugar with Parmigiano Reggiano and caciocavallo, and fruit with vegetables and cured meat. Each slice holds together cleanly and shows a cross-section of color — green peas, pink ham, deep red tomato — that makes it as visually striking as any dessert on the table. The Parmigiano cream on top is a béchamel base finished with a generous amount of grated Parmigiano, poured over the loaf just before serving so it glazes the surface and makes the whole thing look, convincingly, like something sweet. It isn't. It's better.

Mini versions with zucchini and caciocavallo work well if you want individual portions for an aperitivo. The filling is flexible — the rule is simple: the more colorful, the better the result.

INGREDIENTS

562

Calories per serving

Ingredients for the batter (for a 10x4 inch mold): Fresh liquid cream ½ cup (100 ml); Whole milk 0.4 cup (100 ml); Extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp (60 ml); Eggs 3 - medium; Type 00 flour 1.67 cups (200 g); Caciocavallo cheese 3.5 oz (100 g); Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 3.5 oz (100 g) - to grate; Prosciutto cotto 3.5 oz (100 g) - diced; Peas ½ cup (70 g); Sun-dried tomatoes in oil 1.75 oz (50 g); Instant yeast for salted preparations 5 ¼ tsp (15 g); Nutmeg to taste

For the Parmesan cream: Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 7 oz (200 g) - to grate; Whole milk 2.1 cups (500 ml); Butter 3 ½ tbsp (50 g); Type 00 flour ⅓ cup (50 g); Fine salt 1 pinch; Black pepper to taste; Nutmeg to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Sweet-Looking Savory Loaf Cake

To prepare the sweet-looking savory loaf cake, start by sifting the flour into a bowl, then add the baking powder for savory preparations 1. Then add the grated cheeses 2, peas, and diced cooked ham 3.

Add the cubed caciocavallo, then drain and pat dry the sun-dried tomatoes on kitchen paper to remove excess oil; then cut them into pieces and add them to the other ingredients 4. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon 5 and set it aside. In the meantime, in another small bowl, pour the eggs, add the milk and cream 6.

and mix the ingredients with a whisk 7. When you have whipped the eggs, add the oil in a thin stream 8, mix everything and salt and pepper to taste 9.

Sprinkle with grated nutmeg 10, mix and add the beaten eggs with the milk to the other dry ingredients 11. Mix everything with the wooden spoon and transfer it into a greased and parchment-lined 10x4 inch mold 12, leveling the mixture with a spatula. Bake the sweet-looking savory loaf cake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for 40 minutes (320°F for 30-35 minutes if using a fan oven).

Once cooked, take it out of the oven 13 and allow it to cool before removing from the mold. While the loaf cake is baking, prepare the Parmigiano Cream: in a saucepan, add the butter 14 and melt it over low heat. Then add the sifted flour in a steady stream 15.

and stir with a whisk and let the flour turn golden to obtain a roux 16. At this point, add the grated nutmeg and the previously heated milk in a thin stream, continuing to mix with the whisk 17, then also add the grated Parmesan 18.

When the cream has thickened 19, turn off the heat and cover it with cling film to keep it from drying out. You can unmold the sweet-looking savory loaf cake onto a serving plate and glaze it with this delicious Parmesan cream (20-21)!

Storage

Store the loaf cake without cream under a glass dome for 2-3 days, with the cream in the refrigerator. If you think you won't consume it all, you can garnish the individual slices or the portion you will consume with the Parmesan cream.
You can store the Parmesan cream in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap for 1-2 days.
You can freeze the preparations if you have used fresh, not defrosted ingredients.

Advice

Is the Parmesan sauce too thick? Dilute it with a bit of milk or cream! And for the filling... let your imagination run wild, following one rule: the more colorful the loaf cake, the tastier the filling will be!

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.