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What happens when cornbread meets cake and then bumps into raisins, feta, and spinach?
A pretty killer love story, if you ask me.
When I first stumbled upon “Honey & Jam,” a beautiful, seasonal baking book by Hannah Queen, I was as enamored with the cookbook as I was with her website of the same name, which any of her readers will tell you is almost magical with its moody photos and Appalachian charm. Interested readers can pick up a copy on Amazon.
I actually bought multiple copies of the book, to give as holiday gifts!
The book is broken up by season, with recipes and dreamy full-page photographs of things like spring honeysuckle breeze dessert, summer lavender-blueberry cupcakes, autumn apple rosemary skillet cake, and a winter pear and almond chocolate finale with cider glaze.
The anthology is loaded with sweeter dishes, so this savory cake caught my eye. I knew that the briny feta would work wonders with juicy dried fruit, and the walnuts would offer much-needed crunch.
I also knew it was going to be extraordinary and unusual, with a bright green color from the fresh spinach, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it – and my fork into it.
Print
Savory Spinach Cake with Raisins, Walnuts, and Feta
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
If you’ve got a cake craving but savory is your jam, this spinach pie swimming with salty feta and walnuts is too good to be true.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter (for greasing the pan)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 cup packed baby spinach leaves, cut into ribbons
- 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round baking dish or cake pan with butter.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and olive oil.
- Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring to combine. Fold in the spinach, walnuts, raisins, and feta.
- Pour the mixture into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
Adapted from Honey & Jam by Hannah Queen.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
Keywords: spinach, feta, raisin, walnut
Cooking By the Numbers…
Step 1 – Prep
Toast the walnuts over medium-low heat in a dry pan, tossing occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned.
Layer the spinach leaves on top of each other, and roll tightly. With a sharp knife on a cutting board, thinly slices the rolled leaves into ribbons.
Step 2 – Measure the Dry Ingredients
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round baking dish or cake pan with butter.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper.
Step 3 – Measure the Wet Ingredients
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and olive oil.
Step 4 – Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring to combine. Gently fold in the greens, walnuts, raisins, and feta.
Step 5 – Bake
Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish or pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let rest for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or slice, wrap tightly, and freeze.
Fluffy Feta Recipe for the Win.
If you thought cake was just for special occasions, try one mouthful of this veggie masterpiece and you’ll be blown away. No candles required.
Fruit and cheese go together like Bennie and the Jets. Try some other creative combos like goat cheese and dried wild blueberries for a tasty twist.
If you dig salty where sweet typically goes, you’ll love these unique recipes:
What are your favorite ways to fold new flavors into unexpected places? Dessert lasagna? Mac and cheese cupcakes? Share your eccentric specialties in the comments below! And don’t forget to give this recipe a five-star rating if you loved it.
Photos by Fanny Slater, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on September 14, 2015. Last updated on November 10, 2020. With additional writing and editing by Allison Sidhu and Fanny Slater.
Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.
About Shanna Mallon
Shanna Mallon is a freelance writer who holds an MA in writing from DePaul University. Her work has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The Kitchn, Better Homes & Gardens, Taste of Home, Houzz.com, Foodista, Entrepreneur, and Ragan PR. In 2014, she co-authored The Einkorn Cookbook with her husband, Tim. Today, you can find her digging into food topics and celebrating the everyday grace of eating on her blog, Go Eat Your Bread with Joy. Shanna lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with Tim and their two small kids.
I will tell you that the idea of a savory cake seemed ridiculous to me until you described it and I saw the pictures and now I WANT IT. It sounds like an embellished biscuit and I can get behind that. Or anything biscuit-adjacent.
this sounds like a wonderful cake and a wonderful way to use spinach! Can’t wait to try it 🙂
I LOVE savory cakes! They feel healthy but decadent at the same time. Belinda Jeffrey has a recipe for a tomato upside down cake / tart that is made from a cheesy scone dough and I could live on it in the summer. I think simple, afternoon cakes are my favorite though. Hold the frosting, give me dried fruit and loaf pans and the kind of cakes that can be spread with butter. So good!
I’ve been following Hannah’s blog for ages! Her recipes and photos make me super happy and this book of hers did not disappoint! Love what you did with her recipe. The raisins in there sound great to me!
Such a lovely book by a lovely girl – looking forward to trying some of the recipes!
What a wonderful idea! I use spinach mostly in fillo but have recently used it with potatoes for taco filling.
This spinach cake sounds divine though. I must try!
I would love to try a savory cake! I’m much more of a savory than sweet kind of girl. I like any cake with fruit in it though!
Honestly, my favorite way to eat spinach is hidden in my morning smoothie! (but this recipe might just make me branch out!)
This recipe looks AMAZING!
I’m trying to start cooking regularly again, and your blog and this recipe will help!
ThankS!
I absolutely love vegetable cakes—zuchinni, carrot…and the like, but always they are sweet…I am intrigued by a savory vegetable cake! Thank you for sharing, Shanna.
Your writing is lovely, thank you for sharing!