Alas, my original polenta purchase had been in the pantry so long it had overtaken its use by date and been completely overrun by corn-loving pantry insects.
I should know better by now! After moving from Sydney to the Gold Coast I have mostly gotten used to the vast array of creatures in and around our home – Indonesian barking geckos, poisonous cane toads, noisy fruit bats and the beautiful but spoilt black swans that knocked on the back door to demand food.
I’m not sure if the pantry invaders were weevils, pantry moths or something else again. They went straight to the bin without so much as a proper forensic investigation. Living in south east Queensland you just cannot leave anything in it’s original packaging – it’ fair game. I could be much lazier when we lived in Sydney or the South Coast of NSW. The advantage is that my pantry has never been better organised – all those matching containers so neatly lined up and nesting so sweetly together. Ahhh the pleasure of an organised pantry...but better get back to the polenta...
My baking was stalled until I returned from the supermarket with a fresh supply of polenta as well as more sealed containers to keep the pantry invaders at bay. After rounding up and containing any loose packages in the pantry, I was set to start again. Here goes.....
Torta di Polenta con Limone (Lemon Polenta Cake)
500g butter, at room temperature
500g caster sugar
zest and juice of 3 lemons
zest and juice of 1 orange
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
500g almond meal
300g yellow polenta (finely ground or instant polenta)
2 teaspoons of gluten free baking powder
icing sugar, to sprinkle on finished torte
Preheat your oven to 170C
Grease a 28 cm spring form cheesecake pan and line the base with baking parchment.
Place the almond meal, polenta and baking powder in a small mixing bowl and mix thoroughly by hand to combine. Set aside.
Place the butter, sugar and lemon and orange zest in the bowl of your electric mixer. Beat until thick and pale.
Keep the mixer going and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Stop and scrape down the sides when needed from time to time. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.
Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl. Gentle fold in one third of the combined polenta, almond meal and baking powder mixture. Add one third of the lemon and orange juice and mix. Repeat with next third of the wet and dry ingredients until all are added. Mix until all ingredients are combined.
Place cake batter into prepared tin and gently tap to remove any air bubbles. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and then reduce oven temperature to 160C for a further 40 minutes. Remove from oven and leave in tin to cool completely.
To serve, remove from tin when completely cold, dust with icing sugar and serve with Lemon Mascarpone.
Lemon Mascarpone
250g mascarpone cheese
½ cup icing sugar
juice of ½ a lemon
Place all ingredients in electric mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
The verdict?
The judging panel of hubby and two daughters were clearly impressed not only by the size of this enormous torte but also by the taste. First serves were quickly consumed and all served themselves seconds that were a bigger size than the first. That’s always a good sign.
The cake is quite dense and moist with a lovely delicate yet robust citrus flavour. The lemon mascarpone packs a punch and is a great accompaniment.
My original version was a little gritty. Having not cooked with Polenta before, I didn’t buy the finely ground version that was at the supermarket, choosing instead a coarser version. It didn’t seem to put off anyone in my family but I have changed the recipe above to use the right version of polenta.
This is a great cake for a large party or special occasion. Hubby said he thought it would be great at a dinner party so perhaps I better plan an Italian feast to match this great dessert!
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