Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Cake au Thon (Tuna Cake)

Say what?!?! Yes...your eyes aren’t deceiving you...tuna cake...this is a regular in French kitchens and yet I had heard of its existence just a few weeks ago. It wasn’t part of my mom’s daily repertoire as we were growing up…and well honestly my mom didn’t cook French food very often…aside from boeuf bourguignon (burgundy beef), coq au vin (chicken in wine stew), and hachis parmentier (sort of Sheppard’s pie)…we were more likely to see chicken curry and dhal or simple western dishes such as spaghetti bolognaise on the table. I guess for one thing my mom was cooking dishes that my dad would enjoy and identify with…and she was making dishes that were fast and easy as being a mother of two doesn’t always allow the time to prepare gourmet meals.

So just recently my mom got hold of a recipe for cake au thon…tuna cake…and so she decided to make it…she loved it so much that gave me the recipe…and at first the name just didn’t sit right with me…tuna cake…sure there aren’t any sweet ingredients…so it’s not that kind of a cake…but still…just the words tuna and cake together seemed strange…but at my mom’s insistence about how good it is I decided to bake it…and you know what? This is really really good! It’s tasty…and filling…you can have a few slices with a salad and you’re set to go. Sometimes you just have to try things…at least once to know if it’s something you’d like.

Tuna Cake

You can choose to change up the filling for this. My mom likes to use pine nuts and green olives. Next time I make this I'm thinking about adding in sundried tomatoes as well. It's so simple to make and it makes a great meal.

3 eggs
100ml milk
80ml olive oil
100g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Handful of chopped basil
Handful of sliced black olives
1/2 handful of capers
1 1/2 cans of tuna, drained (I use 1 can of chilli tuna and half a can of tuna in water)
1 handful grated gruyere cheese (I didn't have gruyere and used emmenthal)

Preheat oven to 200C. Mix the eggs, milk, oil, flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the basil, olives, capers, and tuna. Pour into a loaf pan and sprinkle on top with the cheese. Bake 40-45 mins.

12 comments:

boo_licious said...

Yum, anything with tuna gets my vote of confidence. What a coincidence, looking at a recipe of veal with tuna sauce. Yummy stuff too.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I love cooked tuna and have never tried this but really want to. I can imagine this would be delicious served alongside a salad and crusty, buttered bread :)

Anita said...

Yes, I did think my eyes were deceiving me... :) It sounds very interesting though, i'd give it a go.

Anonymous said...

Ok, you know I hate sweet cakes...so I feel like you made this just for ME! I'll just think that way, anyway xp
Very interesting, I'd love to try it though!

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

A savoury cake! Oh my. LOVE.

Rebecca Saw said...

oooo..lovely! cheese and tuna and everything all into a pan and shove into oven. PErrrfuect!!!
Protein goodness too. Thks..*rolling up sleeve and getting the tuna can out* ;)

Arwen from Hoglet K said...

That looks like a good one for lunchboxes. I like the idea of adding pinenuts and sundried tomatoes too!

Chefspiration said...

Boo_licious - I do love tuna! And a tuna sauce on veal sounds wonderful :)

Lorraine - Ohh yes it is! Try it out!

Anita - Haha..I knew people would be a bit stumped at the thought of an actual cake with tuna in it.

BurpandSlurp - I actually did think about you when making it! Especially since you mentioned not liking sweet things and desserts.

LL - It was love at first bite for me! hehehe...

TheNomadGourmand - Do try it! You will like it...everything in one pan...perfect!

Arwen - It is the perfect tasty lunchbox meal...I'll update u when I've tried the sundried tomato and pine nut version :)

Anh said...

I like the idea of savoury tuna cake. Thanks for the recipe!

rokh said...

this one is going to my to do list!

suryasta said...

is that what you ate at work?

Chefspiration said...

Anh - You're welcome! It is really delicious :)

Rokh - Cool! Hope it turns out well!

Janet - Hehe yes that was the tuna cake I had for lunch...