Behold, an egg cake in all its glory!  I fantasized about making this little baby all last week.  Didn’t get around to it until Sunday (cooking frenzy night), a few hours before I set off for Boston.  Adapted the recipe from here (also many of my photos show the same steps as this blog does) which was adapted from here adapted from here.  Oh, I should warn that though the description says “Veggie,” I threw in some sliced ham, because I couldn’t use it all up for my lunches.

I was skeptical the sesame seeds would stick to the pan with only butter, but it actually worked quite well!  I guess years and years of disappointment trying to get glitter to stay on Elmers glue has affected my general faith in things sticking to other things.  Similarly, although completely unrelated to this post, I hate crayons, because I could never color in the lines and that made me feel inferior to my peers or more specifically to my arch nemesis in nursery school, Little Jenny.  I DIGRESS.

Presto change-o voila!

Ingredients:

5 carrots, sliced

1 head broccoli

1 head cauliflower

1 large red onion

2 cloves garlic

some dried rosemary (probably btw 1-2 tsp)

some dried basil (same as above)

olive oil

butter, for sticking sesame seeds

sesame seeds… as much needed to cover the sides of the pan

6 eggs

2-3 tbsp milk

1 1/2c unbleached white flour

2 1/2 tsp baking power

1/2 tsp ground turmeric (optional)

2c grated parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

Equipment:

A pot (for boiling stuff)

Round 9″ springform pan… I got mine from Ikea, and although I’ve only used it 3 times, the “non-stick” portion is ALREADY starting to chip.  Poisoning my body with all these non-sticking chemicals.  Anyhow, you can probably replace this pan with another 9″ well-buttered round baking dish, perhaps a glass one with slanted sides.  The springform pan just makes it easier to take the cake out of the pan once it’s done.  Or better yet you could get a disposable aluminum pie pan and cut off the sides, although the sesame seeds may not work out so well…. just shouting out ideas, not necessarily thinking hard about them.

2 mixing bowls

A colander

Parchment paper… arguably useful.  Mine practically dissolved into the cake.

An oven (very important)

How to Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut up your vegetables.  Reserve a few onion rings for the top of the cake.

2. Boil some salted water in the pot.  Once it starts to boil, throw the carrots in and let cook until tender (approx. 15-20 minutes).  Then throw in the cauliflower and broccoli.  Continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes or until the broccoli looks plumper and like it should be part of a take-out Beef with Broccoli order.

3. While you are waiting, cook the onion, garlic, and rosemary  in a frying pan with some olive oil for a few minutes.  Let cool before you move onto the next step.

4. Also while you wait: make the egg batter.  Combine the eggs, milk, 1 good glug of olive oil, basil, and onion mixture.  Mix mix mix.

5. Strain the vegetables through the colander and run under cold water for a few seconds.

6. Combine the dry ingredients in the other mixing bowl: flour, baking powder, turmeric, salt, pepper, and parmesan.  Mix mix mix.

7. Now add the egg batter to the dry mixture (not the other way around!).  Mix gently.

8. Add the vegetables now.  Stir until everything seems evenly distributed.

9. Prepare the springform pan for action: Butter the sides to about 3/4 way to the top.  Put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.  Now add the sesame seeds and slowly start rolling them along the sides of the pan.  I achieved this by tilting at a 45 degree angle and rolling the seeds down the butter.

10. Add the batter to the pan.  Top with red onion rings.

11. Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes.  I have a particularly slow oven, so I waited 70 minutes.  The top should be browner, and if you stick a toothpick in, it should come out clean.

By the way, this tastes super good straight out of the oven, as the cheese is still oozy and stretchy.  It also tastes good reheated.