Salty, Cheesy, Briny: This Martini-Inspired Loaf Is Perfect for Cocktail Hour

Many bakers attribute their passion to childhood years spent sitting atop the kitchen counter, where they watched their mom, grandma or another family member mix ingredients while rocking a flour-stained apron. Not Jessie Sheehan.

“That was just so decidedly not my experience,” says Sheehan, a four-time cookbook author, recipe developer and podcast host of She’s My Cherry Pie. “When I finally became a baker, it was because I loved sweets. No other reason.”

After previous lives as an actress and lawyer, Sheehan walked into her local Brooklyn bakery, Baked, wanting to learn the craft. She went from testing recipes to eventually developing them and helping the bakery craft its first two cookbooks. 

All the while, she was laying the groundwork to establish herself as a leading personality in the digital baking community, crafting a brand centered around unfussy, “easy-peasy sweets” as she calls them.

But in her most recent cookbook, Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy, Savory Recipes for 24/7 Deliciousness, she was inspired to give her favorite treats a salty remix.

“I realized when I go into a bakery, I’m actually not grabbing the coffee cake,” says Sheehan, who has an insatiable sweet tooth. Instead, she gravitates towards the savory treats: cheesy scones, veggie-filled quiche, bacon and egg biscuits—you name it.

Savory baking was unexplored terrain for Sheehan. Up for the challenge, she looked to every corner of the kitchen for inspiration to give her previously sugar-coated bakes a cheesy, salty or herbaceous twist. 

One such recipe rethinks the dirty martini experience. “My gosh, you’re gonna put your olives in your martinis anyway,” she says. “What if we put all of that into the loaf and serve that alongside the martini?”

The result: A salty cocktail-inspired loaf perfect happy hour (that is, if it lasts that long).

Pimento-stuffed green olives and melted Swiss cheese provide this loaf with a wonderfully briny flavor. Serve it on its own, or sliced with ham or mortadella (Sheehan’s favorite) for an epic sandwich.

Cocktail Hour Loaf Recipe

Recipe adapted from Salty, Cheesy, Herby, Crispy Snackable Bakes: 100 Easy-Peasy, Savory Recipes for 24/7 Deliciousness by Jessie Sheehan

Ingredients

  • ½ cup vegetable oil (100g)
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup (180g) whole milk
  • 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¾ teaspoon mustard powder
  • ¼ cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups (200g) shredded Swiss cheese, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 cup (145g) drained small pimento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped, brine reserved
  • Sliced olives for decorating (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 81⁄2-by-41⁄2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with a large sheet of parchment paper that extends up and over the two long sides of the pan.

Whisk together the oil and sugar in a large bowl. 

Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and then the milk. 

Vigorously whisk in the baking powder and then the salt, garlic powder, mustard powder, cayenne and black pepper. 

Gently fold in the flour, cheese and olives with a flexible spatula just until the last streak of flour disappears.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with additional cheese and sliced olives (if using).

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with a moist crumb or two. 

Remove from the oven and very lightly brush the top of the loaf with some of the reserved olive brine. 

Let cool until you can easily lift the bread out of the pan by its parchment handles, about 20 minutes, running a knife around the edges if it resists. Serve warm or at room temperature with your favorite cocktail. Makes one 8 ½-4 ½-inch loaf.

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The post Salty, Cheesy, Briny: This Martini-Inspired Loaf Is Perfect for Cocktail Hour appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.



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