Two years ago I was into my third month of blogging and had just posted what was to be one of my most popular posts to date. It was my Elegant Easter Brunch Menu.
Two days later I had a terrible fall and severely broke my wrist. There was no cooking in my immediate future while I recovered from several surgeries.
Since then that Brunch Menu has been shared on Pinterest over 48,000 times. At the top of the post you can see the number of pins. Yes, I had to do a double take when I saw the numbers.
When I wrote the post I selected a variety of recipes that would make a fabulous Easter brunch. One of the recipes was a Ham and Potato Bake. I had been anxious to try it so I made it recently for my Supper Club Brunch. The original recipe is from an Australian Blog called Exclusively Food.
My Take on this Ham and Potato Recipe
The recipe consists of layers of potato, ham and cheese with a quiche-like egg and cream mixture poured over the layers. The recipe originally instructed to make this in a 7 1/2 or 8″ springform pan. Many of their readers found that their pan leaked so they updated the recipe to make it in a round pan.
I wanted to try making it in the springform pan because I wanted to serve it on a cake stand for a pretty presentation at my brunch buffet. I had no idea if my pan was leakproof and there was only one way to find out! I decided to do a trial run the week before my brunch. The trial run made a great dinner along with a green salad plus enough leftovers for a few lunches!
No, my springform pan was not leakproof. However, it turned out fine. Not that much of the egg mixture seeped out. Note that I placed the springform pan on a parchment lined cookie sheet before placing in the oven to catch any spills.
While it was cooling in the pan, I just scraped the spillage away from the pan.
It looked very pretty on my cake stand, garnished with chives.
The instructions also said to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper so that is what you seeing below.
This can be made in a square pan as well and just serve it cut into squares. I also think it would be okay to make this in a well-greased muffin tin to have individual portions. You would just need to adjust the cooking time by keeping an eye on it until the egg mixture sets.
Before we get to the recipe, I wanted to share one more change that I made. I followed their recipe exactly as written on my first run. The second time, I used sautéed onions instead of grated raw onion. Grated raw onions have a much stronger flavor and I liked the sautéed onions better which are stated in my version below.
My Adaption of the Ham and Potato Bake Recipe
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 large potatoes
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ⅓ lb shaved ham, finely chopped
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 355 degrees.
- Thoroughly grease a 7½ or 8 inch pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment paper. If your pan isn't non-stick, line the sides of the pan also.
- Sauté the onion in olive oil until soft.
- While onions are sautéing, peel and cut the potatoes in half (crosswise, not lengthwise). Place in pan with cold water. Boil potatoes until tender. Drain and allow potatoes to cool. Once cool, cut into thin rounds.
- Combine the two cheese in a bowl.
- Cover the base of the prepared pan with a layer of potato slices. Season with salt and pepper.
- Top with half the ham and onion. Sprinkle with about one-third of the combined cheeses. Continue layering ingredients, seasoning each layer of potatoes, finishing with a layer of cheese.
- Use a whisk or fork to beat the eggs and cream until well blended. Gently pour the mixture over the ingredients in the pan.
- Bake for about 50-60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the egg mixture has set. If the top begins to over-brown before the egg mixture has set, cover with aluminum foil.
- Remove from oven and set aside for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. Cut into wedges to serve. Garnish with chives or green onions.
- This can be served warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy!
Looks delicious Elaine! I’ll have to try it!
Looks great! Can I prepare this the night before and cook it in the morning.
Elizabeth – I would not be comfortable preparing this in advance with the raw eggs and also concerned the raw potatoes would turn dark. You can make it in advance and reheat it.
This definitely can be prepped the night before. (There is nothing raw to worry sbout. Just keep in fridge.) Add egg mixture in fhe morning before baking. I added green onions and smoked paprika with layers. Dash of nutmeg in custard too. Be generous with salt/pepper bdcause its a bit bland. Grease bottom and sides of pan well. Parchment paper is a nuisance when trying to take the slices out cleanly. Pretty presentation!
Well that was one of the most frustrating dinners I’ve made in a long time haha. Must be one of those days. I made it in the spring foam pan, all the egg mixture leaned, transferred into another pan and accepted it would just not look as pretty, the cook time was totally off at least for me so dinner was way later than usual which the wee one did not appreciate so he has grilled cheese instead of the lovely dinner I was hoping for.. let’s hope my husband will clean up?
I am so sorry to hear that the recipe didn’t work for you. The original recipe called for a leak-proof spring form pan. I too didn’t know if mine was leak-proof so I made it the first time with fingers crossed. As you can see in my photos, I had some leakage but not a terrible amount.
What cream did u use.
Almost al of my egg mixture leaked out. So I had to transfer to a different pan. Otherwise it was tasty
Chrissy – sorry for the mishap with your pan. I’m glad it was at least tasty!