Eggplant and beef croque cake

Today I want to teach you how to make a delicious eggplant and beef croque cake that will be great for solving a weeknight dinner or bringing to a party, since it’s a recipe that yields quite a few servings. Croque cakes are savory cakes inspired by the famous French croque monsieur, those grilled sandwiches covered in béchamel that you’ve surely seen in many bakeries.

To make a croque cake, you’ll need a tall rectangular mold. Mine is from Emile Henry, a well-known French brand that makes fantastic ceramic utensils with excellent quality. They are durable, non-porous and can be washed in the dishwasher without problems. For me, Emile Henry products are kitchen must-haves.

The croque cake I cooked today is eggplant and beef, but you can use the ingredients you like best. One combination I’m passionate about is Iberian ham and Urgèlia DOP cheese, which is a soft cow’s milk cheese from the Catalan Pyrenees.

Emile Henry rectangular ceramic mold, Le Creuset Damascus steel knife and Le Creuset wooden cutting board

Ingredients

• Sliced sandwich bread without crust (I used 7 and a half slices)
• 1 onion
• 400gr ground beef
• 4 tablespoons of fried tomato
• 2 eggplants
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Olive oil
• 50gr grated cheese

For the béchamel:

• 50gr butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 50gr flour
• 600ml milk
• 150gr grated cheese
• Salt
• Nutmeg

Instructions

1. Chop the onion finely and put it in a frying pan with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat. You should sweat it well. If you see it starting to burn, add a splash of water and continue cooking until it takes on a golden color.
2. Add the ground beef, season with salt and pepper and let it brown.
3. Add the fried tomato and let everything cook for a couple of minutes. Set aside.
4. To prepare the béchamel, put the butter and olive oil in a saucepan. When the butter melts, add the flour and stir with the help of whisks. Let it cook for a couple of minutes without stopping stirring.
5. Add the lukewarm milk while stirring.
6. Season with salt and add a pinch of nutmeg. Keep stirring until you achieve a thick béchamel.
7. Remove from the heat and add the grated cheese. Stir so it is well integrated.
8. Cut the eggplants into thin slices and salt them. Cook them in a frying pan with a splash of olive oil for a couple of minutes on each side. Set aside.
9. To assemble the croque cake, line the mold with baking paper. To make it easier to fit the paper to the mold, you can wet it under the tap and squeeze it out well. This way you can shape it as you wish.
10. Line the bottom of the mold with the sandwich bread, trimming the slices if necessary. Put a layer of ground beef, a layer of eggplants, cover with béchamel and place another layer of sandwich bread on top. Repeat the process finishing with a layer of sandwich bread. Finally cover with béchamel and decorate with some eggplant slices and grated cheese.
11. Bake for 35 minutes with top and bottom heat at 180º.
12. After the time is up, remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before unmolding.

Emile Henry rectangular ceramic mold, Le Creuset Damascus steel knife and Le Creuset wooden cutting board