A love for polenta cake

The first thing that attracted me to this cake recipe before I had ever even tasted it was its rather romantic name, Amor Polenta. It’s an unusual name whose origins have long been forgotten but it is perfectly fitting for someone partial to polenta, or should I say, with a love for polenta. There’s something about polenta that I adore in a cake – the way it soaks up the other flavours around it, that golden colour, and most of all, that bite, that grittiness that gives the cake crumb its unique texture.

Whenever I see polenta cake or even read about it (especially when it’s as lyrical as Rachel Roddy’s description where you can taste her orange, cardamom, almond and polenta cake through her words, dripping like the hot orange, lemon and honey syrup she pours on top), I simply must have some. I will continue thinking about it for days until I get some. Rachel’s sticky orange polenta cake is still haunting me, particularly after mentioning eating it with a dollop of mascarpone.

Then there’s Valeria Necchio’s rustic strawberry polenta cake, made with a batter featuring good-for-you ingredients such as wholemeal flour and yoghurt. With its wholesome goodness and a top dotted with seeping and sinking dark red strawberries and flecks of slivered almonds, it’s a cake that you can imagine sitting, steaming, on a beautiful country kitchen bench. And on top of that, you could even allow yourself eat it for breakfast. Yes, cake for breakfast.

Amor Polenta, or as it’s known in its area of origin in northern Lombardy, Dolce Varese, is a simple cake made with a trinity of ‘flours’ that makes it both rustic and delicate at the same time. Add to the polenta some soft flour (some recipes even call for potato starch, keeping it light and fluffy but also, as it turns out, gluten free) and ground almonds and you have a compact, but crumbly, moist cake – a little like a pound cake – but with that wonderful little bit of bite from the polenta.

Traditionally this cake is baked in a half-cylindrical ridged tin, which is what makes it instantly recognisable as Amor Polenta. Not having one one of these special tins, I used a round tin, and since it no longer resembled Amor Polenta, I also pushed some freshly poached pears into the batter before baking. I suppose you could say this isn’t Amor Polenta at all but simply a polenta and pear cake inspired by it, which needn’t be a bad thing. If you’d like to make the real thing, all you need is that lovely ridged tin and forget the pears – done.

Traditional Amor Polenta doesn’t need any rising agents, just the fluffiness of the freshly whipped eggs. Perhaps somewhere along the way, people lost their patience for whipping eggs for as long as they did in older recipes (such as this one for Torta Margherita from 1891 that only has three ingredients) and the baking powder just guarantees your cake will rise without too much elbow grease. When did we become so lazy?

Poached pear and polenta cake

Based on the recipe for Amor Polenta, this is adapted from a recipe by Stefano de Pieri of Stefano’s in Mildura in Victoria’s north west. He suggests serving it with glazed, poached pears on the side, which I think is a bit fancy for this humble cake normally served simply dusted with icing sugar alongside an espresso or tea.

  • 40 gr potato starch (or 80 gr plain flour)
  • 60 gr of almond meal
  • 85 gr fine polenta
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • A pinch of salt
  • 100 gr caster sugar
  • 125 gr butter, room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 whole pears, cored, sliced into quarters and poached until just cooked
  • Icing sugar

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the yolks and eggs one at a time, beating well until fluffy. Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the eggs and pour the batter into a greased cake tin (I used a 26cm spring form tin, greased and lined with baking paper because it’s a terribly old, rusty tin). Arrange the poached pear slices on top, pushing them into the batter ever so slightly. Bake at 180 Cº or until the cake rises slightly around the pears and turns golden brown, about 30 minutes. Once cool,dust with icing sugar and serve in thick wedges.

Comments

  1. Now you made me want for polenta cake with your lovely way of words! I have never baked one before so it is time I should x

  2. I am a huge fan of amor polenta and also posted about it a while ago. It traditionally comes from the general area we live in and we can easily find it in pastry shops here but I love making it at home. Like the addition of pear in it to make something a little fancier.

  3. janie says:

    This looks lovely and I am crazy for anything made with polenta. Thank you for sharing.

  4. I too love polenta cakes – actually, any recipe. We tour the Veneto several times year, cycling through many beautiful corn fields, as this region consumes a LOT of polenta! Your combination with the roasted pears sounds wonderful; I posted a traditional Polenta Torta that used dried fruit, nuts, and grappa. So many ways to flavor this dessert. I also like the ground nuts; I’ll try that next, for a gluten free version.

  5. sabry says:

    Ciao, you have always beautiful recipe and this cake looks so delicious … brava!

  6. Adri says:

    I have always enjoyed this style of cake. Since the eighties I have made version from Carol Field’s “The Italian Baker.” I can’t wait to try yours.

  7. Oh now this looks and sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing.

  8. Lucy says:

    I have just come across your blog for the first time and am enjoying browsing through it. I adore polenta cake and like the sound of your version, rich with egg yolks, studded with pears and with the option of potato flour to make it gluten free. One question – do you poach your pears in water, or sugar syrup (how much sugar / water) or wine? For roughly how long? The pattern they make on top of the cake is so pretty. Thank you.

    • Emiko says:

      Thanks for your comment Lucy, glad you stopped by! As I had some lovely, sweet, seasonal pears from the market I simply poached them in water without adding anything but if you’re dealing with pears that are perhaps slightly on the green side or not as sweet, you may wish to add some sugar or a favourite dessert wine.

  9. Alex says:

    I have been really getting into baking with polenta recently. It has so much potential when it comes to baking and IMO is really underutilised by a lot of cake bakers. I recently tried out your poached pear and polenta cake recipe and I was so happy with the result. It was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

    • Emiko says:

      I agree with you – as you could probably tell, I do love a polenta cake or two! So glad you tried and enjoyed this, thanks for the feedback!

  10. Pippa says:

    Another gorgeous recipe. Your comment about original polenta cake using merely whipped egg whites to create lift was particularly useful as I’m currently living with an Italian family in Umbria who (for health reasons) only like to use baking powder in tiny quantities. I was playing around with Babbo’s wonderful Olive Oil and Polenta cake and, based on your comment, halved the baking powder quantity and whipped up the egg whites instead. I’m pleased to say I was very happy with the result (I also orange scented it and made some candied orange slices for the top to go with a bit of an orange drizzle) http://itstartedwithstrawberries.blogspot.it/2013/09/candied-orange-polenta-cake-and.html – so I just wanted to say a big thank you for your help! x

    • Emiko says:

      Thanks Pippa! I’m so glad this was useful to you. Your cake looks wonderful, as you might be able to tell, I do have a thing for orange and polenta cake!

  11. Karen says:

    Thank you so much for this, mine is baking in the oven at the moment and the most gorgeous smell is wafting through the house drawing everyone into the kitchen to see what’s cooking. 10 more minutes and I think they will all have spoons at the ready as it comes out of the oven.

  12. Yum yum. Such a delicious recipe. Thanks for sharing this.

    Simon

  13. Margaret says:

    Hi there – lovely recipe and your photos are always so beautiful. My question is does it matter what type of polenta? Often I can only get quick cook.

    • Emiko Davies says:

      The finer polenta is usually best for baking but instant polenta will be fine to substitute and to be honest I’ve used coarse polenta too (just has more of a crumb).

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