Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Nice Cake...

To me, at least, this loaf of Casatiello, stuffed with locally cured salami and cheese, was bread, through and through. However when we served this at a recent BBQ, my stepdad told our guests this was panettone! His brother in law kept calling it cake after that, which confused the poor kids that grabbed a slice expecting something sweet and fruity only to be surprised by savoury to the max.
I suppose I don't really blame them. I mean, looking at the super-tall bread, baked in a springform pan, the shape does resemble a loaf of panettone (which is still bread!). The fact that I took the recipe as written by Peter Reinhart and then made it even richer with half and half cream and extra meat probably didn't help solidify the "bread image" much either.

But no matter. This entire behemoth was gone well before the burgers hit the grill, but the compliments kept flowing like the beer into the glasses!

There is a reason that this bread is called "Lard Bread" by the Neopolitans - if you have seen any of the other participants in Pinch My Salt's BBA Challenge, you'll know how close everyone compares this to brioche! Lots of butter, cream and eggs (compared to the bread I usually make!) pack into this baby, and it does not suffer in the least! I am only going to post the ingredients I used to make this bread, though the whole recipe is available at the link above if you care to take part too!

Casatiello
Serves 30
Sponge
1/2 cup (2.3 oz) bread flour
1 tbsp instant yeast
1 cup half-and-half cream
1 tbsp lemon juice
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Dough
3 1/2 cups (16 oz) bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 eggs
3/4 cup (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened and divided in 4 pieces
6 oz coarse-grated provolone cheese
6 oz dry-cured spicy salami

Amount Per Serving (Based on 30 wedges)
Calories: 165.9
Total Fat: 9.6 g
Cholesterol: 37.8 mg
Sodium: 195.8 mg
Total Carbs: 14.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
Protein: 5.6 g
I'm also sending this to the YeastSpotting roundup over at Susan's blog, Wild Yeast.

5 comments :

  1. Oh wow, that sounds so good, I can imagine it making a great egg sandwich

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  2. It's funny, the calories and fat seem like a bargain considering whats in it!

    I bet everyone at the barbeque (even the surprised kids) loved you for this bread. It looks delicious

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  3. I don't care what you call it just save me a piece. It looks great

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  4. It does look like cake. Did you really cut it into 30 wedges?

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  5. Thanks guys!

    Susan - we started to cut it into small pieces, but then the people at the BBQ started pulling off chunks, foregoing the knife! If we make it again we're going to make dinner roll-sized balls instead of one big loaf, easier transport/portion control!

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Thanks for the feedback!