Baked Crab Cakes

I had always wanted to make crab cakes. I have made a vegan version in the past but lately I have had this urge to make the real thing. In the past two weeks I had crab cake on top of my salmon at the pricey Morgan Steak House, highly breaded frozen Maryland type ones in a package from Shop and Save and a frozen special crab cake for $3.99 each from McGinnis Sisters Specialty Grocery Store in Monroeville. The last one was the closest to what I was hankering for namely the ones I have eaten at Eighty Acres and Flowers in the Attic in Monroeville PA. The two places do not have much breading like the Shop and Save ones and neither are they just plain lump crab like the one at Morgans. They are soft not rigid and moist and full of flavor but not spicy.

I happened to have lump crab meat from Giant Eagle sitting in my fridge so yesterday I googled for the best recipes for crab cake.  I settled on Paula Dean's version plus the recipe right on the can of lump crab meat from Giant Eagle.

Both sources use mayonnaise as the base and very similar spices with Paula adding bell peppers in hers. She also added Ritz crackers. As a binder she used an egg but Giant Eagle did not and neither did I. Next time I might add it to give more body to the crab cake.

Paula Deen fried hers in oil while the Giant Eagle recipe uses the baking method which I embraced since it is easier and healthier.

The overall taste and texture were on par with the ones from Eighty Acres and Flowers in the Attic. I packed one for lunch yesterday when I baby sat my grandson who was not feeling well enough to be in the daycare. I topped it with the sauce I previously posted for the vegan version and ate it with rice which is how Filipinos would have eaten it if you may ask. I also made up for not going vegan for lunch and ate it with spinach and tomatoes.

Baked Crab Cakes

Adapted from Paula Dean's version  and the recipe from the can of lump crab from Giant Eagle

• 1 lb lump crab meat from a can, picked over
• 3 stalks green onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper
• 1/3 cup crushed Ritz crackers
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp spicy brown mustard
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 egg (I did not use but it might give more body)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. 

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Score into six sections. I found dividing into nine gives skimpy portions. Make a ball from each section and place in the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

The baked crab cakes are soft and moist not rigid and dry. Just reshape into balls when transferring into serving plates if it loses its shape. 

Serve with sauce like the one I prepared from a past blog post.