Last week Caitlin of Engineer Baker chose ‘Fluted Polenta Ricotta Cake’ as the recipe to make from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From my home to yours” for Tuesdays with Dorie. I was really pleased with this choice as ricotta and polenta are two staple ingredients in our home, but I hadn’t combined them in any recipe. I even had the 10 1/2 inch tart pan!
Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump. If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.
Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.
Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the pan, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.
Usually I read the comments on the Tuesdays with Dorie in case there are any modifications to make to the recipe, but this time I forged ahead.
The recipe was easy to follow – the only change I made was using fine polenta instead of medium. I could not fit all the batter into the 10 1/2 inch tart pan but there was not enough batter to make another small cake. If I had read the comments I would have made two smaller cakes instead. The cake also had to bake at least 10 more minutes than called for in the recipe.
Once cooled, I topped the cake with toasted almond slices and a sprinkle of icing sugar. My family knows now that they are not allowed to touch anything I bake for the food blogs until I take tons of photos hoping one will come out decent.
Finally, it was time for the official slicing of the cake. My husband loved it! This is his kind of cake! I enjoyed the cake although next time I will cut up the figs in smaller pieces. It is also a dense cake so a little piece will go a long way.
Thanks Caitlin for choosing this recipe! Browse through the TWD Bakers blogroll on the Tuesdays with Dorie website to view their food blogs.
Don’t miss out on the “COOKBOOK GIVE-AWAY ~ “Martha Stewart’s Cookies”‘ hosted by Donna of Spatulas, Corkscrews and Suitcases. This is the last day to enter!
Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake
About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed
1 c. medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal
½ c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. ricotta
1/3 c. tepid water
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. honey (if you’re a real honey lover, use a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, pine, or buckwheat)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 ½-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump. If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.
Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.
Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the pan, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.
Glad the cake was well enjoyed in your home. I agree that the figs were better when they were chopped up. Great job!
I’m glad you liked it – using fine cornmeal probably would have helped some of those with “texture” issues with this cake, so that’s a great idea! I love the almonds on top too, the cake looks beautiful!
Hi Liliana!
You are so right about the photo shoots! Nobody touches the cakes until they are photographed! Not even if it smells divine! So glad your family loved your beautiful cake!
Toasted almond slices? That might take care of my “texture issue” with this cake … 😉
The almond slices add such a nice touch, very beautiful!
I love the sliced almonds on top!!
Love how your cake-tart looks with the almond slivers on top! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought
The sliced almonds and powdered sugar really take this cake up a notch! Gorgeous!
This looks wonderful!My Hubby and I would love this!!
Hi Liliana! It’s me!
I just wanted to let you know that I awarded you the coveted “You Make My Day Award!” today…because, You make my day!
You can view it here:
http://spatulascorkscrews.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/you-make-my-day.html
Yum!! Looks delicious and I love ricotta and polenta. Very nice and thankyou for sharing!