This cake began with a bowl of almond pulp left over from making almond milk. I didn’t want to throw it away, so I folded it into a simple batter with yogurt, oat flour, olive oil, honey and lemon. What came out was much better than its practical beginning suggested: soft and light, gently lemony, with a little vanilla in the background.
I liked it enough to want a version that didn’t depend on having made almond milk first. This is that cake. It has the same quiet flavour and soft crumb, but it is made with ingredients I can keep in the cupboard and return to whenever I want something sweet and freshly baked.
This is not here to replace a proper butter cake. I love those too, and they belong to a different category altogether. This is simply the cake I want on an ordinary day. It is gluten-free, sweetened with honey and made with olive oil. Healthy-ish, perhaps, but still very much a cake. It is soft, fragrant and satisfying, without the heaviness or sugar rush I sometimes associate with a more traditional loaf.
It is also exceptionally easy to make. There is no creaming, mixer or complicated technique. The batter comes together in two bowls and keeps well for several days, although mine rarely lasts that long. Lately, whenever I feel like baking something just for myself, this is the recipe I come back to.
Slow-Cooked Tomato Toast with Fried Egg & Brown Butter
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
250 g strained tomato pulp or 500 g fresh tomatoes
20 g extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely grated or minced
2 small thyme sprigs
Fine sea salt
1/2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 thick slices sourdough bread
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
20 g unsalted butter
1 large egg
10 g olive oil or unsalted butter, for frying
Flaky sea salt
METHOD
Warm 40 g olive oil and the garlic in a wide frying pan over low heat for about 2 minutes.
Add the tomato pulp, thyme and fine sea salt, increase the heat to medium-low. Cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally at first and more frequently as the moisture evaporates, until the tomato is concentrated, glossy and thick enough to hold on a spoon.
Remove the thyme, stir in the red-wine vinegar and cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the salt.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and continue cooking until the milk solids turn hazelnut brown and the butter smells nutty. Immediately remove from the heat so it does not burn.
Brush the sourdough lightly with olive oil and toast it in a hot pan or under the grill until deeply golden and crisp at the edges.
For the eggs, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, add the oil or butter, then crack in the egg. As soon as the whites begin to set, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook gently until the whites are completely opaque and just set but the yolks remain fluid. Spoon a little hot fat over any stubborn translucent white around the yolk if necessary or cover so they set with carry over heat.
Spoon a generous layer of warm tomato onto each toast, top with a fried egg, drizzle the brown butter over the egg and tomato, and finish with flaky salt.
Serve immediately.
