TWD- Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

This week we are baking a honey cake picked by Caitlin of Engineer Baker has chosen…Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake. I am excited to taste this cake. The combination of cornmeal and ricotta and figs should be amazing. I added some thyme to is as per Dorie's suggestion and I think it will add a nice dimension. The batter sure tasted good! I have made a similar cake form one of Lynne Rosetta Kasper's cookbooks. It was a great chewy cake. I am taking this one to my book club tonight and will serve it with a fig compote and creme fraiche and hopefully some Earl Grey tea. Sounds good to me! I will post some pictures of the cut cake after my book club tomorrow. I cant wait to see the figs inside the cake!

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 panm, 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.

Daring Bakers Challenge: Perfect Party Cake by Dorie

This is my first post for The Daring Bakers. This months recipe was selected by Morven of Food Art and Random Thoughts. Check our her blog and check out The Daring Bakers blog to see other peoples results.

WOW! What a cake. I loved every part of this cake. I have always wanted to make this kind of butter cream icing. My favorite bakery from home, Bethel Bakery had icing like this. Who knew it was so easy to make. For this challenge I stayed pretty true to the original. I used lime zest instead of lemon in the batter. I stuck with the raspberry preserves in the layers and also added fresh berries to the top of my cake.

I had a bit of trouble cutting the two cakes in half. I always cut unevenly, as you can see in the layers. It doesn't effect the taste, but visually is unappealling. I have seen people use dental floss and pull through the cake instead of cutting, maybe I will try next time.

I think the next time I make this cake I will just make a vanilla butter cream, or almond and put a custard or pastry cream in the layers. I think toasted almonds on the out side instead of coconut would be great too.


For the Cake:

2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Butter cream:
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing:

2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves,
Stirred vigorously or warmed gently till spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2 –inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each with parchment paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To make the cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle attachment, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, and then add 1/3 of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk /egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool or 5 minutes, then unmold them and peel off paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.
To make the Butter cream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a heat proof mixing bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like a shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the butter cream on medium-speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time, the butter cream may curdle or spate-just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon Juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then add the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white bitter cream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the butte cream and set aside briefly.
To assemble the cake: Using a sharp serrated knife, and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up in a cake plate. Spread it with on third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about a quarter of the butter cream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and butter cream and then do the same with the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have butter cream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on the top of the cake and uses the remaining butter cream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting gently all over the sides and top.
Taken from:
Baking: From My Home to Yours
Page 250-252 by Dorie Greenspan

Happy Birthday to you...

Today is David's 36th Birthday and we are having a family dinner. The house smells so good. When the kids came in from school, Owen started sniffing and looking for what smelled so good. What smelled so good was the Caramel Cake! Oh my it does smell good, I hope it tastes so good. It has a ton if butter in it so it shoud be good. The recipe I used was from Paula Deen from the Food Network. She is not known for her healthy recipes and this is no different. But is sounded so good.

We are also having Tangerine and Rosemary Glazed Roasted Chicken and Roasred Root Vegetables and Orzo. All from the Food Network. David loves chicken on the bone and this combination sounds wonderful. For the vegetables I am using carrots, beets and purple baby potatoes. It is beautiful too.

Bobby's Caramel Cake
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen, 2007
Show:
Paula's Home Cooking
Episode:
Happy Birthday


For the cake: 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

3 cups sifted self-rising flour

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the filling:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream, or more if needed

1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped nuts, optional

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add granulated sugar and continue to cream well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Level batter in each pan by holding pan 3 or 4-inches above counter dropping it flat onto counter. Do this several times to release air bubbles and assure you of a more level cake. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

For the filling: While cake is baking, in a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Remove cake layers from oven and allow cake to remain in pans as you prepare to stack and fill. Remove first layer and invert onto cake plate. Pierce cake layer with a toothpick over entire surface. Spread 1/3 of filling mixture on cake layer. Top with second layer, repeat process. Top with last layer and repeat process again.
*Cook's Note: As I stack layers together, I stick them with toothpicks to prevent cake from shifting.

For the frosting: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and stir in brown sugar and cream. Bring to a boil, and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat with a handheld electric mixer until it reaches a spreading consistency. At this time it may be necessary to add a tablespoon of heavy cream, or more, if frosting gets too thick. Just be sure to add cream is small amounts because you can always "add to", but you can't take away. Frost cake and sprinkle top with chopped nuts, if desired.

Whole Roasted Chicken Infused with Tangerines and Rosemary with a Tangerine Glaze
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse
Show:
The Essence of Emeril
Episode:
Tangerines
1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

1 yellow onion, quartered

3 tangerines, quartered

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 cup fresh tangerine juice

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and pepper

8 roasted new potatoes, cut into wedges,

warm 1 cup assorted roasted baby root vegetables

, i.e. baby carrots, red, and golden beets, warm

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Rub the entire chicken with the butter. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Essence, including the cavity and the area between the skin and the breast meat. Season with onions and tangerines with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the onions, tangerines, and fresh rosemary.
Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan. Place in the oven. Roast the chicken for 45 minutes to an hour or until the juices run clear. After the chicken has roasted for 20 minutes, baste the entire bird with the pan drippings. Baste every ten minutes.
For the glaze: Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest, reserving the pan drippings. In a hot saute pan, add the pan drippings, tangerine juice, and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the sauce to 1/2 cup, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Place the roasted chicken on a platter. Arrange the roasted vegetables around the roasted chicken. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and garnish with rosemary sprigs.
Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.