Sunday Slow Baking # 15 - Citrus Glazed Polenta Cake

Another Sunday and another great recipe by Gina De Palma. This is the latest stage in the Sunday Slow Bakers' exploration of Dolce Italiano by Gina De Palma. Krista came up with the notion that it might be interesting to get a group of folks together to bake and blog each week. This week's recipe was selected by Ida.

Of course the biggest challenge for us all was to figure out what fine polenta was. I googled and discovered posts from folks who used regular polenta by mistake and were not happy at all with the texture. We debated whether or not fine polenta was the same as instant polenta was the same as fine corn meal . . . ARGH In the end we decided that fine corn meal = instant polenta and just went with it.

The texture was great - score one for the fine corn meal. However, the finished cake wasn't as cooked in the middle as I would have like - in fact the cake sunk a bit. Now my oven tends to be on the cool side so I baked the cake at a higher temperature and for longer than called for but I think another 5 or 10 minutes might have been helpful. It tasted fine but the centre wasn't completely cooked. Another thing that may have contributed to this . . . I used at 8 inch pan instead of a 10 inch - I never adjusted the baking time for that - opps

Instead of regular olive oil I used the tangerine olive oil we bought in Paso Robles in February - it sure helped make this cake a citrus delight. We ended up slicing into it at breakfast this morning - Paul gave it 2 thumbs up and didn't even noticed that it wasn't fully baked in the centre - bless his heart. The cake isn't sweet and is redolent of lovely citrus flavour. This really was a treat and at some point I will recover from the fact that I didn't bake it for as long as I should have.

I decorated the cake with simple candied peel. I used a special zester which takes long threads from the fruit. I tossed the threads of lime, orange, and lemon peel in granulated sugar, let it dry and tossed again. I repeated this about 5 times before the peel was nicely crusted with sugar. It made for a nice presentation (but not as nice as if I had baked the damn cake long enough - I will get over this at some time!)

Citrus Glazed Polenta Cake

1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 lemon
1 lime
1 orange
3/4 cup instant or fine polenta
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat over to 325 degrees and position a rack in the center. Lightly grease a 9" springform pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray, dust the pan with flour, and tap to knock out the excess. Grate the zest from the lemon, lime, and orange, setting the zests aside for the cake batter and reserving the fruit for the glaze.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and granulated sugar together on med-high speed until they are pale yellow and have tripled in volume, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in reserved citrus zests.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the olive oil to the egg mixture; begin with one third of the dry ingredients, then add half the oil, followed by another third of the dry ingredients, beating only until each addition is incorporated. Stop the mixer and briefly scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining olive oil, followed by the last third of the dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. The cake is down when it springs back lightly when touched and pulls away from the sides of the pan, and when a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 12 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove the sides of the pan and allow the cake to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze: Sift 2 cups confectioners' sugar into a large bowl. Squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice from each of the reserved citrus fruits. Add the citrus juices to the bowl and whisk until smooth. If the glaze seems too thick, add a few drops and whisk until smooth. If the glaze seems too thick, add a few drops of water until it falls easily from a spoon. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and allow it to set until it is completely dry.

Carefully remove the bottom of the springform pan with an offset spatula and tranfer the cake to a serving plate. If desired, dust the cake with additional confectioner's sugar before serving. Any leftover cake may be wrapped in plastic and served the following the day.

Be sure and check in on the other sunday slow bakers to see how their cakes turned out:

Baked Alaska
Destination Anywhere
Happy Trails for Us: My Reluctant Blog
Keep your Feet in the Street
In and Out of the Garden
My Place in the Sun
Palmabella's Passions
Postcards From the Trail
Whistlestop Cafe Cooking

Comments

[Cindy Ruth]

Jerry-I also had trouble getting mine to cook in the center. I did use a 10" pan, and had to cook it at least 10 min. longer. Unfortunately, that made the cake a little dry around the outside. I liked the citrus flavor, but would probably use a different recipe next time. Also, I don't know about you, but I find I almost always have to cook Gina's recipes longer than stated, and I rarely have to do that on other recipes.

[sandi @ the whistlestop cafe]

Yours is beautiful!
The polenta gave it a very different flavor. For me... but then we southerners know our cornbread.

[Jerry]

Cindy Ruth _ I'm going to have to try it again to see what I did wrong. I am so peverse that I will not allow a recipe to defeat me! *smile*

Sandi - it would have been far better without the damn hole in the middle! ARGH Oh well, the taste was amazing.

[Cindy Ruth]

Let me know if you figure it out. I wonder if it has something to do with overbeating. I'd have to look up on the web or in a cake cookbook to see what they say. You're more dedicated than me, because I tend to not make the recipe again if it doesn't turn out. But I would make a nice cake and add the 3 zests like this and the same glaze.

[Robert]

LOL - Jerry the cake looks great - a neat way to get around the centre not cooking is to bake the cake in a bundt mould - no centre, no problem...

Definitely must give this a try.

[María I.]

Your cake is beautiful! Mine is gone but I still remember a few things. After 30 minutes of baking the center was still not done so I left it in the oven for 15 more minutes. I used regular polenta so it had a gritty texture but the flavor was so amazing that we didn't mind.

Like Cindy, I always had to extend the baking time on all the DI recipes. By now I use the baking time as a mere suggestion and use the finger poking and the cake tester as a measure of doness (is that a word?)

[Jerry]

Cindy - I am always game for an investigation.

Robert - awesome idea about a bundt pan. I will try that first!

Thanks Maria. I think it is the baking temperature. Most of the baking I do is 350. Her recipes are all 325.