autumn sun cake

I love savory tarts, I have always found them very versatile and perfect to serve as a dinner, starter or even as an appetizer. It is also an elaboration that allows us to leave it prepared in advance in the absence of serving it at the time we need. I was looking for some new savory tart ideas when I came across a sun-shaped tart from the Saines Gourmandises blog. I thought it was absolutely beautiful, so I had to adapt it to bring you this Autumn Sun Cake .

This is a time of year where we can enjoy a lot of fantastic ingredients and I have tried to use some of them for today's recipe. In addition to some others such as rye, oregano, watercress... and thus give it a rustic and very aromatic touch.

The base of our cake will be very simple

To carry it out we will only need to mix the ingredients and stretch the dough. No leavening or rest, a really easy base to prepare and with surprising results. Among the ingredients you will find rye flour , I know that some of you are not very fond of this cereal. For those who don't like it or don't find it easily, you can replace it with whole wheat flour, spelt... Whatever you prefer.

Then we will add flavor with a pesto of watercress, dill and peanuts . I assure you that it is absolutely addictive, you could almost eat it by the spoonful! I use it for pizzas, savory tart bases, sandwiches, hamburgers, vegetable toasts... It goes great with a lot of ingredients. Like the base, preparing a pesto is very easy.

We will only have to introduce all the ingredients in our KitchenAid chopper , process and that's it. To keep it in perfect condition, I recommend storing it in an airtight glass container , covering the surface with olive oil and refrigerating. In this way we will avoid drying out or damaging the upper part.

The ingredients of the Autumn sun cake

Of course, all the ingredients can be replaced by others that you like more in case one is not to your liking. In my case I have used zucchini, pumpkin and onion. We will sauté them with a little olive oil before placing them on the cake to prevent them from releasing a surplus of water during baking.

Then we will decorate with almonds, fresh dill, rosemary, a few Parmesan flakes, almond oil and white truffle salt . The combination is very aromatic, very autumnal and very addictive!

Buyer Perforated Tray and Serving Paddle Laura Ashley

Ingredients

For the mass:

• 90 g whole rye flour
• 110 g of strong wheat flour
• 100g of water
• 12 g white wine
• 15g olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the watercress and dill pesto:

• 60 g watercress
• 25 g fresh dill
• 125 g of olive oil
• 100g Parmesan
• 75 g roasted peanuts
• 1 large garlic clove
• Salt to taste

For the filling:

• 1 zucchini, approximately 500 g
• 1 large onion
• 150 g pumpkin cut into thin slices
• 5 tablespoons olive oil + 2 tablespoons
• Salt and black pepper to taste

To decorate:

• laminated almond
• 3-4 teaspoons of almond oil
• Parmesan flakes
• fresh and dried dill
• dried rosemary
• white truffle salt

Elaboration

Prepare the watercress and dill pesto

1. We wash the watercress and dill under cold water, dry carefully. We remove the broad stems of the dill and we are left with only the leaves.
2. In the KitchenAid food processor, add the watercress along with the dill and oil. We process well until we obtain an intense green paste.
3. Add the peanuts together with the Parmesan and garlic. Process again until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
4. We taste and rectify salt if necessary.
5. Pour the mixture into an airtight container , cover with olive oil and refrigerate until ready to use.

We saute the vegetables

1. Wash the zucchini very well, dry and cut into very thin slices. We booked.
2. Cut the onion into squares, reserve.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil. Once it's warm, add the onion.
4. Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium heat. You will observe that it becomes tender and transparent.
5. Add the zucchini along with the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it acquires a slightly tender texture. It will take us around 10-12 minutes .
6. Season to taste and stir.
7. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and let cool.
8. In that same pan we pour another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add the sliced ​​pumpkin. Sauté until it acquires a light golden color and the texture is slightly tender. It will take us around 8-10 minutes .
9. Remove from heat and let cool.

We prepare the dough

1. In the KitchenAid bowl or our mixer, add the flour together with the water, white wine, oil, oregano and salt.
2. Mix with the help of the hook at speed 1 until obtaining a homogeneous mass.
3. We turn it over on a clean work surface and work a little with our hands.
4. We form a disk and stretch with the help of a rolling pin between two sheets of Teflon or baking paper. We will try to give a diameter of 25 cm, approximately .

We cut the dough

1. We place a large plate or bowl on the dough and, with the help of a curly cutter for pasta, we make a circle. We remove the excess dough.
2. We pass the disk of dough with the baking paper on a perforated baking tray .
3. Now we will make the central cuts that will give rise to the appearance of the sun or flower. With the help of a ruler and a sharp knife or pizza cutter , we make 4 cuts of 10 cm in length that will give rise to a star.

Buyer perforated tray and carbon steel knife with beech handle

Fill and bake

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC with heat up and down .
2. We have a thin layer of dill pesto on the base.
3. Place the sautéed zucchini, onions and pumpkin all over the surface.
4. Decorate with Parmesan flakes, dill and dried rosemary, and the sliced ​​almonds.
5. We fold the dough peaks over the filling and bake for 40 minutes . You will notice that the dough acquires a light golden color.
6. Remove and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack.

we serve

1. We place it on a plate, fountain or table where we are going to present it.
2. Drizzle the vegetables with a little almond oil , sprinkle a little truffle salt and garnish with some fresh dill leaves.
3. In case you have pumpkin flowers, we can decorate it with them. And if you dare to fill them, they will make you the wave!
4. We serve.

Carbon steel knife with beech handle and P2 KitchenAid food chopper

Grades

• Could the dough be made without rye flour? If possible. You just have to omit it and use more strength or whole wheat flour instead. But I recommend you use it because the flavor is fantastic.
• Rye flour makes dough sticky to the touch. So this texture is completely normal when you knead it.
• The pesto can be this variety that I leave you or any other, even the traditional one made only with basil and pine nuts. I leave it completely to your choice, although the touch of watercress and dill goes perfectly with the rest of the ingredients.
• When you cut the cake, if the dough is hard to handle or soft , refrigerate it for 30 minutes to make it easier for you to handle.
• The pesto base must be very thin , just to add a bit of flavor.
• Nuts and aromatic herbs can be adjusted to your tastes.
• We can keep it for 1-2 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator . Although I recommend you consume it the same day we make it, that is when it will have the best flavor and texture.

This Autumn Sun Cake has been a complete success at our dinner last week with friends. I prepared two units and we served them with a cheese and sausage board, various types of hummus with naan bread, pickles and a few other things. They loved it and I was able to leave everything prepared in advance.