Gorgonzola, Pear and Caramelised Onion Cake

Apologies once again for practically disappearing off the face of the earth! These past few weeks (which were my last in France) have passed by in such a blur, but now I'm settled back in England for the summer (sob) with plenty of time on my hands to cook up some tasty treats. To take my mind off pining for France and those glorious sunnny days that just do not seem to exist here, I will be busying myself in the kitchen. A kitchen which is far more pleasant to cook in than when I was in France! So there are pluses about being back...

Oddly enough, I have chosen to cook something which I would not consider to be typically French, but very delicious nonetheless! Once you've got your head round the fact that you're eating a savoury cake that is. I watched another one of Rachel Khoo's programmes the other day (just to make me feel more at home!) and her cheese, pistachio and prune cake caught my attention. However, I thought I'd mix things up a bit and decided to give it a go with a different filling. and in fact, what makes this cake so great is that you can experiment with whatever filling you fancy. I've recently discovered that I'm actually a fan of blue cheese in small doses and since I've been in France I've tried a variation of cheese on toast with pear. With this in mind, I decided to put it all in a cake along with some caramelised onions to balance out the bitterness of the cheese. And the result was a delight. Perhaps slightly on the oily side when it first came out of the oven, but with a side of salad it made the perfect light lunch and was a bit different to a standard sandwich. It would also be a lovely addition to a picnic in the countryside...that's if the weather decides to provide us with some sunshine of course!

 

Gorgonzola, Pear and Caramelised Onion Cake

Ingredients

250g Plain Flour

15g Baking Powder

150g Gorgonzola, sliced

1 Red Onion

1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 Pear (peeled, cored and sliced)

4 Eggs

150ml Olive Oil

100ml Milk

50g Plain Yoghurt

Seasoning

Recipe

1. Begin by making the caramelised onion to give it time to cool.
2. Slice the onion finely and add it along with the butter, olive oil, sugar and balsamic vinegar to a frying pan.
3. On a medium heat, cook for 10-15 minutes until the onion has caramelised. Allow to cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a loaf tin with greased proof paper.
5. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, gorgonzola, caramelised onions and pear.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until pale and fluffy, then gradually whisk in the oil, milk and yoghurt. Season well.
7. Fold the flour mixture into the whisked eggs, careful not to overbeat. 
8. Pour the batter into the tin.
9. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
10. Allow to cool in the tin and enjoy!