Tuesdays With Dorie: Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

Since I've joined Tuesdays With Dorie - and this is only my fourth week as an official participant - I've gained approximately 700 pounds and the eternal devotion of my sugar-addicted children.  I just hope the other members have worked out some sort of group discount rate with a reputable weight loss program.  Maybe...Tuesdays With Dorie...and Thursdays With Jenny...or something along those lines.  Just curious.

Anyway, all of my own self-control issues aside, this is a really interesting cake.  The crunch of the polenta and the fig seeds...

the fragrance of the lemon zest...

and the seductive sweetness from the honey...

are all woven together in a moist, golden crumb. 

The cake is, at first glance, rather plain, and my initial urge was to figure out how to add to it.  How to pretty it up.  But then...even though I came up with a few lovely ideas...I couldn't do it.  Not the soft dollop of chantilly cream and a few thin and crunchy curls of lemon zest...not a scoop of lemon sorbet...not even a dusting of confectioners' sugar.  They would have looked nice...but really, this cake doesn't need them. 

And speaking of "this cake" - the Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake for this week's post was chosen by Caitlin of Engineer Baker and can be found in Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours on pgs 200-201.

I made mine Sunday morning, ably assisted by my petite sous baker, Julia. 

The cake was easy to put together, and though the recipe calls for a 10  1/2 inch tart pan, I used my trusty 8" model plus a 6" springform pan and things worked out just fine. 

Let's make a cake, shall we?   

Ingredients:

About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed

1 cup medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup ricotta

1/3 cup tepid water

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup honey

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 1 T, cut into bits and chilled

2 large eggs

Hang on...I'm missing something.  Oh yes...forgot to put the lemon zest in the picture.

That's better.

Getting Ready:  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter a 10  1/2-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.

And that's all she wrote.

Now, I will say that the butter didn't exactly leave light colored circles...but I also didn't cut the butter in uniformly tiny bits.  My bits were rather haphazard, both in size and placement atop the cake.  So maybe, if I wanted to do anything different, I would improve my butter bit technique. 

But I don't really think it's a huge deal.

I used the 6" cake (Julia's cake) as the tasting cake, because I wanted to use the larger one for my slice-of-the-cake photos. 

I had a small piece, and gave each of the kids a small piece.  Once they were in the dining room with theirs, and I was still chewing my small portion, I quickly sliced another thin wedge for myself and, yes, I gobbled it down shamelessly.

The kids seemed to enjoy the cake, too.

In order to stop myself from eating the rest of the small cake, I quickly sliced it up into wedges, arranged the slices on a pretty little plate, and race-walked them across the street to share with our friends.   Based on the response, I think they'll remain our friends for a while.

I left the final photos (with the bigger cake) for Monday, and it was nice to have a legitimate reason to cut a standard-sized slice of cake

and,

after photographing it from various angles

and with various props,

eat the whole thing myself.

 

I think I'm gonna have to bring some of that large cake across the street, too.

I could use the exercise. 

Comments

[Sarah]

Gorgeous! And handy to have such a helpful assistant in the kitchen, I am sure! Great job!

[LyB]

I love the look of this cake, very rustic and comforting. I wouldn't change a thing to your "butter bit technique", your cake looks beautiful and delicious!

[Madam Chow]

I love, love, love your photos! Great job!

[Madam Chow]

I love, love, love your photos! Great job!

[Lori]

You mentioned exercise in your post as well. How funny... all these desserts, I tell yah. Great photos... I should have put my five year old to work as well!

[Amy W]

Love the photos!

[Rebecca]

I think most of us have a taste and then send these sweets fahhh, fahhhh away–to unsuspecting family, friends, and co-workers. Although the peanut butter torte will be hard to part with.

[kim]

love all of your photos, the finished product looks delicious!

[CB]

Thursdays with Jenny! LMAO! Beautiful pictures. Your kids are adorable. Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

[Donna]

Beautiful as usual! Talk about exercise! Have you noticed that most of these recipes have lots of butter in them? I've been here 7 weeks and I think the ONLY thing that hasn't had butter was the Marshmallows!
I had a helper too, but his name was John! He took some photos, then ate the cake!

[Anne]

LOL at Thursdays with Jenny... the only saving grace for me is that I don't like coconut and a few things so it knocks out a few of the desserts that I'll actually eat! I love the photos, glad it turned out great.

[Mary]

I love your website! Your kitchen helpers are precious and your cake turned out beautifully.

[Cheryl]

Beautiful! We must have joined TWD about the same time, as this is my fourth week, too. Isn't it fun? I love it!

[beth]

Your little helper is beautiful. I loved baking times with my mom as a child.
Your cake looks great. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who ended up with tiny sinkholes!

[Heather]

hahahahaha! I love Thursdays with Jenny! Great job on your cake! I think I gained 700 pounds just looking at them!

[april]

Your cake looks great! Your kids are really cute!

[Emily]

Your cake looks fabulous!!

[Caitlin]

So pretty! I'm glad you ended up liking it! And your helper is adorable :)

[Karen]

Wow! I love your site. You have some great pictures - the one of the honey being poured is probably my favorite on this post. Cute "sous baker" too!

[Lauren]

Hey girlfriend, I'm with you on the weight loss program. I gain by just looking at it. Your images are fantastic, And that cute little one...priceless!

[Shari]

As always, great photos!

[mimi]

gorgeous photos! your cake came out beautiful. and i greatly admire how precise you are with your mise en place!

[Carol Peterman]

My Monday night dance class thinks I am so generous to bring treats, but as Amy W says, I am just getting the goods fahhh, fahhhh away!

[Liliana]

Great job! Lovely pictures! Your sous baker is adorable.

[Mari]

Your cake looks picture perfect and I love how you photographed the entire process! Oh, and I totally hear what you're saying about the 700 pounds. Just think I've been at it a several weeks longer then you, so I'm sure I've gained 1000 pounds. Must go back to the gym again soon, so I can combat the "tight-trouser syndrome".

[Julius]

I loved reading your post. Everything looks delicious. :)

Julius

[Natalie]

Tuesdays with Jenny or Wednesday Weigh-In, for sure :)

As always, great pictures - adorable helpers!

[Cecilia]

The pictures of the cake look GREAT! I agree that the simplicity of this cake really makes it beautiful. Your little sous baker is so cute!

[Ashley]

Ooo yum your cake looks great! I unfortunately didn't get a chance to make this last week but I do plan on making it. And your daughter (I assume?) is adorable! And what a great helper.