CAKE CROQUE MONSIEUR / HAM AND CHEESE SAVORY LOAF
She describes this as a “giant gougere” so if you track my past rabbit holes, down I went 
That said, the recipe is virtually identical to the Cake D’Alsace @MunchkinRedux made, so if I had looked at those pictures I might have questioned the description. But, as I mentioned earlier, very reminiscent of Dorie’s Apero Bread, so whatever turned out was bound to be delicious.
I made some adjustments for what I had on hand – a combination of kefir and yogurt instead of buttermilk, fried shallots instead of ham (because the ham I dug out of my freezer was well past any use, sadly), shallots instead of leeks as she suggests, and a mix of cheeses – aged cheddar, aged gouda, and a little pecorino. The batter was thicker than I expected. PSA: mind the salt, I could have skipped it entirely given on the cheeses I used.
Based on her description of Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 textures, I decided mini muffins would work better for me than a loaf (also that gougeres description again). Baked for 25 mins at 350, till the tops were nicely browned (happened to take temp and it was 205 at this point).
Very tasty, but not gougeres-like, more bready – closer to the Cheese Puffers in Baking with Dorie, or the Impossible Quiche Bites I tried last year. But I love all these things!
