I often have the hardest time naming recipes. With some dishes, it's immediately obvious what they should be called. Recipes like this cheesy garlic mushroom cake... not so much. In this case, all you need to know is cheese + garlic + mushrooms. That should be enough to convince you that it's worth a try.
Despite my best efforts in finding a name for this recipe, 'cake' still isn't quite the right word for it. In reality, it's kind of a cross between a cake and a frittata. It's made with both eggs and flour, so it's got more substance than a frittata, but it's moister than a cake. I'll admit it sounds a little odd, but savoury muffins are a thing, so why not savoury cake?
Whatever you call it, I really enjoyed this cheesy garlic mushroom cake. We had it for lunch for a few days, served with salad and coleslaw, and it would pack up really well in a lunchbox. It would be a great addition to a picnic too (the sun is finally out this week!!). It's not delicate, and it's not messy to eat. It's great hot or cold. Perfect picnic food!
I'm now imagining all the other savoury 'cakes' I could make using this same idea. I'm thinking grated carrot or courgette (zucchini) would be great to make it extra moist. Maybe a Mediterranean version with sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Or a spicy Mexican version! Try different veggies, different cheeses, maybe some extra herbs or spices. The world's your savoury cake.
📖 Printable Recipe
Cheesy garlic mushroom cake
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Print Pin CommentIngredients
- ½ tablespoon butter, plus more for greasing the tin
- ½ tablespoon oil
- 485 g mushrooms, cut into chunky dice (~ 5 cups when chopped)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 6 eggs
- 150 g (~ 1 cup) self-raising flour
- 150 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 1 ½ cups when grated)
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, along with a small dash of oil. Add the mushrooms and garlic, and cook over a medium heat until the mushrooms are soft and any excess liquid has cooked off (with this amount of mushrooms, it might take about 10 minutes). Set aside.
- Break the 6 eggs into a mixing bowl, and add the self-raising flour. Carefully mix until fully combined, then add the cheese, thyme, a good pinch of salt and pepper, and the garlic mushrooms. Mix to combine.
- Thoroughly grease an 8-inch loose-bottomed cake tin, and add the garlic mushroom mixture. Bake at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 40 minutes, or until firm. Leave to cool, then remove from the tin and slice.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for ⅙ of the cake.
Like experimenting with savoury versions of sweet dishes? Try my cheese and chive savoury flapjacks:
Jennifer says
Really good. I used a 500g bag if frozen forest mushrooms you can buy in France. It went down well - even my fussy French mother in law approved. I'll definitely make it again
Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says
Haha that's great, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Tam says
This tastes absolutely amazin, made it for the first time last week and doing it again today I didn't have any cheddar cheese so I used shredded smoked mozzarella instead and it came out delicious!!
Becca @ Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says
Ooh smoked mozzarella sounds amazing! Glad you liked it! :)
VERY DISAPPOINTED says
This NEEDS baking powder, it does NOT rise well. It is NOT CAKE! Every cake I've ever made required baking powder. Wanda's comment above is correct, it's more like a quiche, only with a pretty hard top and a steamed bottom. Far too many eggs contribute to this disappointment. Just made it, too expensive to throw out, so attempted to rescue it with a mushroom butter topping and homemade cranberry sauce. Suggest Becca rename this recipe as a quiche, flour or no flour, OR adjust the recipe to make it into an ACTUAL CAKE.
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
So sorry you were disappointed by this recipe! It does say very clearly in the post that it's not a true cake, but quiche is definitely not the right word for it either!
Janine says
This looks fabulous. I pinned it and will try to make a keto version!
Julie Brydie says
Hi Becca! Looking to make this soon and I have an SOS question from Canada. ( I have tons of mushrooms at the moment.) I wanted to ask if Self raising flour is the same as cake/pastry flour? Thanks!!! 💕🇨🇦
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche says
Hi Julie! It's just flour that already has the raising agent in it. I'm not sure whether pastry flour would be the same - presumably that wouldn't rise on its own? You can actually make self-raising flour with plain flour and baking powder, if that's any good? :) https://www.nigella.com/ask/self-raising-flour
Julie says
Hi Becca! Please a quick SOS from Canada. What is self raising flour? Would cake/pastry flour be the same thing? I’m full of mushrooms here and would love to try this recipe! Thx. 💕🇨🇦