Savory Spinach Cake with Raisins, Walnuts, and Feta

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What happens when cornbread meets cake and then bumps into raisins, feta, and spinach?

Vertical image of a slice of a yellow tinted baked good studded with greens, nuts, and dried fruit on a wooden cutting board, with text on the top and bottom of the image.

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.

Vertical top-down image of a white pie plate with a baked good studded with spinach, nuts, and dried fruit on a wooden table.

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.

Vertical image of slices of a savory baked good studded with greens, cheese, and nuts on a wooden bard, with a fork inserted into one next to a bowl of raisins.

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
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Horizontal image of a circular baked good mixed with green leaves, cheese, and nuts on a gray surface, with a slice removed from it to the side.

Savory Spinach Cake with Raisins, Walnuts, and Feta


  • Author: Shanna Mallon
  • 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

Scale
  • 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

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9-inch round baking dish or cake pan with butter.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
  3. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and olive oil.
  4. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring to combine. Fold in the spinach, walnuts, raisins, and feta.
  5. 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

Horizontal image of chopped walnuts on a wooden cutting board.

Toast the walnuts over medium-low heat in a dry pan, tossing occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned.

Horizontal image of thinly slicing a roll of leaves on a wooden board with the knife set to the side.

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.

Horizontal image of dry ingredients in a bowl mixed by a metal fork.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper.

Step 3 – Measure the Wet Ingredients

Horizontal image of an orange bowl filled with a creamy yellow liquid.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, and olive oil.

Step 4 – Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients

Horizontal image of mixing greens, crumbled cheese, and chopped walnuts in a mixture in a bowl with a red spatula.

Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring to combine. Gently fold in the greens, walnuts, raisins, and feta.

Step 5 – Bake

Horizontal image of pouring a thick yellow batter mixed with green leaves, dried fruit, nuts, and cheese into a prepared glass pan.

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.

Horizontal image of a circular baked good mixed with green leaves, cheese, and nuts on a gray surface, with a slice removed from it to the side.

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.

Horizontal image of a slice of a baked spinach recipe on a white plate.

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.

12 thoughts on “Savory Spinach Cake with Raisins, Walnuts, and Feta”

  1. 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.

    Reply
  2. 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!

    Reply
  3. 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!

    Reply
  4. 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.

    Reply

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