Sunday, April 29, 2012

Fluted Polenta Ricotta Cake


 One thing I've learned from nearly 4 years of baking Dorie Greenspan's recipes weekly, and that is that I can trust her instincts.  Dorie can turn the most unusual combination of ingredients into the most sublime of baked goods.  I've seen it time and again, and this week's recipe, the Fluted Polenta Ricotta Cake, gave me an opportunity experiment in the kitchen again with Dorie.  I've gathered that here were a lot of bakers who were not fans of this cake when it was baked by the Tuesdays With Dorie group four years ago but it sounded good to me so I was interested to see how we would like it.

n.o.e.'s notes:

-  The cake was selected four years ago by Caitlin of the blog Engineer Baker, and you can find the recipe on her cake post

-  The recipe calls for dried figs (the seeds add to the crunch provided by the medium grind cornmeal/polenta, but I went a different direction and added chopped prunes.

-  I baked a half recipe in 8" fluted tart pan.

-  This recipe produced a definitely pourable cake batter, but it thickened nicely as it baked, and the butter pats left little light patches all over the surface of the cake.

-  I served the cake with honey-sweetened yogurt.

the verdict:

This is a rustic, homey cake, not a show-off special-occasion fancy-dress cake.  My husband and I loved it; his observation was, "this cake is a perfect balance: not too sweet, nice taste of honey, substantial texture."   Although the prunes were fine in the cake, we both agreed that it would be perfect with dates; I will make it that way next time (which might just be right away!)

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Glad you guys liked it!! This was probably my least favorite recipe to have baked with TWD, but I also made it in the early days of the group so maybe I'd feel differently now. I'd like to think my taste buds have matured a bit :)

Audrey said...

Dates and cornmeal! Will you save a piece for me?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good tea cake. I have not made this one yet and I've been a bit hesitant.

TeaLady said...

I thought about using something other than figs but went with them anyway. Yours look so pretty. Glad y'all liked it.

Kayte said...

Yes, TRUST DORIE! Definitely. Looks lovely. I love Jim's thoughtful comment...around here I get, "Yeah, it's good." lol...not a lot of reflection goes into it...they are too busy eating. Trust Dorie always.