Herzhafter Ofenschlupfer (savoury bread and cheese bake)
A savoury version of the classic German Ofenschlupfer bread bake, stale bread cubes soaked fully in a savoury custard until no dry centre remains, since bread that's only soaked on the surface bakes into a dish with hard, dry pockets instead of a uniformly soft, custardy texture. Layering the bread and cheese rather than mixing them together is what gives distinct melted pockets instead of an evenly muted cheese flavour throughout.
Prep20 min
Cook40 min
Rest20 min
Servings4
Christoph's savoury Ofenschlupfer, the bread soaked fully so no dry pockets remain after baking.
Ingredients
Written for a 23 × 33 cm dish
Units
Temperature
Servings
Bake
- 400 g stale bread, cut into cubes rounded
- 500 ml milk rounded
- 4 eggs rounded
- 150 g onion, finely chopped rounded
- 20 ml neutral oil rounded
- 150 g shredded cheese rounded
- 2 g grated nutmeg rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the milk, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper together in a large bowl.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion for 5 minutes, until soft.
- Add the bread cubes to the egg mixture and toss to coat. Let soak for 15 to 20 minutes, tossing occasionally, until fully softened with no dry centre.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan).
- Layer half the soaked bread in a baking dish. Scatter over half the onion and half the cheese. Repeat with the remaining bread, onion and cheese.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custard is fully set and the top is golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Soak the bread until no dry centre remains, not just until the surface looks wet. Bread that’s only soaked on the outside bakes into a dish with hard, unpleasant dry pockets alongside the soft parts; a full soak gives a uniform, custardy texture throughout.
- Layer the bread and cheese rather than mixing everything together in one bowl. Layering creates distinct melted pockets of cheese as you cut into it, while mixing everything together mutes and evens out the cheese flavour.
- Use genuinely stale bread, not fresh. Fresh bread turns to mush when soaked; stale bread holds its structure while still absorbing the custard fully.
- It reheats well for 2 days, making it a good next-day lunch.
Ingredient substitutions
- Any hard, well-flavoured cheese works well here.
- A handful of chopped fresh herbs, such as chives or parsley, stirred into the egg mixture adds freshness.
- Diced ham or bacon, sautéed with the onion, is a traditional non-vegetarian addition.
From Christoph Mayer