“I love polenta because it was the staple – and remains so – of the Veneto, where I come from. And sultanas because they represent the place I live in – Mildura. Combining both ingredients brings together a lot of love. The grittiness of the polenta is what makes this cake rustic and delightful. The cake is good served with glazed pears or any other poached or roasted fruit.”
Ingredients
Method
Main
1.Preheat oven to 170C. Sieve flour, almond meal, polentas and baking powder together in a bowl. Beat sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in flour mixture to just combine, then spoon into a buttered and floured 20cm-diameter cake tin. Smooth top, scatter over remaining sugar and polenta and bake until cake is golden and a skewer inserted withdraws clean (25-30 minutes). Cool cake slightly in tin (10 minutes), then turn out and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
2.Serve cake with whipped cream and roasted pears. Cake is best served on day of making.
Note To roast pears, halve and core 3 pears, place in baking dish, drizzle with a little dessert wine, scatter with butter and caster sugar and roast, turning occasionally, in oven at 180C until tender (25-35 minutes).
This recipe is from the May 2011 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Notes
