Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp sugar
1 stick butter -- softened,
1 unsalted
2 egg yolks -- room temp
1 tsp orange zest -- finely
1 grated
1/2 tsp lemon zest -- finely grated
1/2 vanilla beans, or 1 tsp van
1 extract
2/3 cup natural almonds
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, or course
1 polenta
1/4 cup cornstarch (yes 1/4 cup!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 egg whites -- room temp
2 tsp confectioner's sugar
1 sweetened whipped cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 325. Generously butter an 8" X 1" square baking pan.
In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the sugar and the butter, egg
yolks and orange and lemon zests. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean
into mixture, or add extract. Using an electric mixer, beat at high
speed until smooth, light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
In a food processor, finely grind the almonds with the
cornmeal/polenta, cornstarch and baking powder.
In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with
the remaining 1/4 teaspoon sugar until they form soft peaks. Gently
fold the dry ingredients and 1/2 the beaten egg whites into the
butter mixture; then fold in the remaining egg whites unti just
incorporated.
Gently scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for
about 30 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and a cake
tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer pan to a
cooling rack for 10 minutes; then invert the cake on the rack and let
cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar, cut into 6 pieces
and serve with topping. -Richard Sax
Recipe By : From Food & Wine 1994
Servings: 6 servings
Polenta Cake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake; Dessert
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as a concept can be traced far back into antiquity, at least as far back into history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and quite possibly further than that. However, sadly, these old cookbooks were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
As we move into The time of the roman empire around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his works, he describes how the meals were separated into starters, entrees and afters, something we still use today. Aspicius also recounts how the cooks of Roman times made use of a wide range of herbs and spices, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs like bay, rue and asafoetida. In the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods and herbs from Arab cuisine, including spices such as coriander, parsley, and rosemary. These new foods and tastes was responsible for an outbreak in cookery books, most of which are now in private libraries. When we get to the 1900s, cookery publications were greatly in demand mostly as a result of higher levels of literacy, leisure time and having more disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Polenta Cake recipe.
