I love to collect things. Teacups, magnets, stamps, exotic spices… cookbooks. If you are a vegetarian/vegan/plant lover, chances are you have heard of Yotam Ottolenghi. While he is not a vegetarian chef, he has undoubted made vegetables a whole lot sexier.
Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake
His cauliflower cake is somewhat of a standout recipe of his second vegetarian cookbook, Plenty More. No small feat, in a book with an enviable repertoire of beautiful vegetable dishes.
If you have spent an hour (or two) scrolling through Pinterest, or Instagram, you may have come across Ottolenghi’s cauliflower cake. It is somewhat of a tall & fluffy frittata, dyed a vibrant, golden hue with turmeric. There are tender, silky florets of cauliflower suspended within the cake itself, along with tendrils of caramelised onions, and a squeakingly fresh handful of chopped up herbs. The cake itself is rather unusual looking, topped with orbits of sweet, mellow red onions, sides encrusted with sesame (and nigella!) seeds.
I have always wanted to try Ottolenghi’s cauliflower cake, and have bookmarked my own copy of Plenty More and always meant to get round to making the recipe. But, as always, life got in the way. I turned vegan. And, suddenly, making a cake that called for seven (yes, seven!) eggs seemed a little bit, well, impossible.
My Vegan Cauliflower Cake
Fast forward four years, and armed with my packet of chickpea flour, I set out to make a vegan version of this. Ottolenghi’s cake is eggy, dense, but a little pinch of baking soda in his batter also gives the cake a little rise.
I must admit that the idea of cauliflower in a cake, even though it’s a savoury one, seemed a little strange to me. But after tucking into a slice of this (after the painful 30-minute-wait as it cooled), I was enchanted. I can’t say myself how this compares to Ottolenghi’s original recipe, but this vegan cauliflower cake looked pretty similar in texture (a bit of custard + a bit of fluff), and it tasted pretty darn eggy.
Caramelise your onions well, in a pan slick with a generous glug of olive oil. Fry them until the firm, crisp slices collapse into a sticky, bronzed tangle. Well-caramelised onions make all the difference, lending a sweet, buttery flavour to your vegan cauliflower cake.
The Perfect Picnic Food
It may seem a bit premature to suggest you eat this cake at your next picnic, in the precious warmth of the afternoon. Especially in the UK, when the last bits of winter are still clinging onto spring (cold spells be gone!). But this vegan cauliflower cake is equally delicious for brunch, or to pack in your lunch box. It is rich, studded with creamy cauliflower, but the tufts of basil inject a hint of freshness. The cake is a glorious interplay of ‘eggy’ goodness with a slight kick of ethnic flavour – from the turmeric and nigella seeds.
Ottolenghi himself advices that this iconic cake be served warm, or cold – and that it is even better the next day.
“Serve this cake as a light supper alongside a makeshift salad of sliced cucumber, dill, mint, a little sugar, cider vinegar and rapeseed oil. Wrapped well, it will taste even better the next day.”
Fab Cauliflower
Cauliflower is pretty great, and while this is an excellent example of a dish to serve to a cauliflower-hater in an effort to sway them, try whipping up my Korean Cauliflower Wings. They are also a great way to showcase just how versatile the humble cauliflower can be. It isn’t just the ‘low carb answer to the potato’, cauliflower is so, so much more.
- 1 small cauliflower, outer leaves and core removed, broken into 1¼-inch florets
- 1 medium red onion, peeled
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
- 2 cups chickpea flour
- 1 tsp black salt (kala namak), or regular salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ cup soy yoghurt*
- ½ cup water, and more for adjusting the consistency of the batter
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- A pinch of black pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast, or finely grated vegan cheese
- ½ cup basil leaves, chopped (20g)
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoons nigella or black sesame seeds
- Preheat the oven to 180C, and grease and line the base and sides of an 8' or 9' springform pan.
- Place the prepared cauliflower florets in a pot of boiling water and boil until fork-tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- As the cauliflower boils, chop two round slices, each ¼-inches thick, from the middle of the red onion and set aside. These rings will be your topping. Chop the remaining red onion, and fry in the olive oil in a non-stick skillet for 5 minutes until softened. Add the rosemary and continue to fry for 3 more minutes until fragrant. Set this aside.
- In a large bowl, sift the chickpea flour, black salt, baking soda, baking powder, and turmeric together. Mix well and form a well in the centre. Add in the soy yoghurt, and ½ cup of the water. Stir well to form a smooth batter. Add more water, if needed, a tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. The batter should be thick, but flow off the spoon or whisk you are using and fall down smoothly, like a ribbon. If you add in too much water by accident, just add a small spoonful more of chickpea flour.
- Stir in the lemon juice and pepper. Then, fold in the nutritional yeast, chopped basil leaves, and fried onion mixture. Finally, add your drained cauliflower and fold in gently, taking care not to break the cauliflower up too much.
- Brush some oil on the baking paper lining the sides of the pan, and toss in the sesame and nigella seeds, twirling the pan around so the seeds stick. Spoon in all of the prepared batter and use a spoon to smooth out the top. Layer your onion rings on top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean (without any chickpea batter), and the top of your cake is golden.
- Leave to rest for at least 30 minutes, before serving. It should be served just warm, rather than hot, or at room temperature.
I’m not a big fan of anyting that has a cheese flavour (vegan or not). As such, could I leave out the nutritional yeast?
I don’t see why not! The cheese/nutritional yeast is more of an added flavour and isn’t needed for the structure of this cake, so feel free to leave it out 🙂
Awesome!! Thanks!!
I can’t wait to make this!
Let me know what you think if you do! X
Sasha, you are a genius!! I’ve made the original many times in the past, and was wondering if there was a way to veganize it. Thank you so much for doing that, I can’t wait to make it! <3
HI there Cheryl! Thank you for leaving a comment and also for sharing this on facebook 🙂 Let me know how it compares to Ottolenghi’s original if you ever do try it out! x
OMG . dying to try this. I LOVE CAULIFLOEWR
YESSSS Sophie, it’s so yum 🙂 Gave it to a cauliflower hater and she loved it, so as a cauli lover I am sure YOU WILL ADORE IT <3
I just made this dish while I was staying with my dad and we both absolutely loved it! Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
Hi there Sarah, yay! I am so glad you loved it 🙂 I am actually eating a slice of it right now for dinner – can report it freezes beautifully 🙂
Hi,
I made it today. It turned out very tasty. Thank you fo the recipe. I have a pic of the cake, but cannot add it here:)
Diana
Hi Diana! Thank you so much for leaving a comment and so happy you liked the cake!! xx
Thanks for posting this. Tried it today and it tasted delicious!
yay! You are most welcome – thank YOU for trying it out 🙂 x
im now making this for the SECOND time 🙂
Haha <3
I don’t rate myself as a good cook, but this was easy, (teenage son and I did it together), looked impressive and was delicious! I have requests to make it again soon. Thank you from Canberra
This looks delicious! I really want to make it as part of a buffet but I’m not quite sure what cuisine it is-italian? German? I want to pair it well but don’t really know how to yet so your tips would be appreciated 🙂
It is a riff fo the Ottolenghi cake, and he specialises in Middle Eastern Cuisine. But I adapted the batter out of an indian chickpea bread, so it goes with indian flavours as well! Although, to think about it, it would really go well with italian as well thanks to the piney breeze of rosemary 🙂
Oh my goodness this is exactly the recipe I was looking for! Thank you, can’t wait to try this!
<3
I loved making this recipe over and over again. I tried it twice with chickpea flour, once with all purpose and once with rice flour. The chickpea flour definitely is the way to go and makes a huge difference in flavor and consistency. Thank you for this great, healthy recipe.
Someone shared this recipe in a whole foods plant based oil free group and i made it tonight. Oh, WOW! A new favorite for sure.
First try on this today. I did not get the lift of your photo but it still looks lovely. I’m bringing it to a Super bowl party tomorrow. Wondering how to preserve it once cooked? Wrap and leave on the counter? Does it need refrigeration?
Also thought it might be good served with some zhoug and pickled mangos.