Sometimes you just need a little cake. This Polenta Cake with Pinenuts is perfect on its own with a nice hot cup of coffee but I had made a Plum Compote the previous day and needed something to put it on so this is the pairing I came up with.
The cake is light, not too sweet, flavored with lemon zest with the cornmeal and pinenuts lending the cake great texture. The Plum Compote was a recipe from David Lebowitz that uses the small prune plums that you see at the end of the summer. I love prunes and plums so when I came across this recipe I knew I had to make it. It simply combines the fruit with white wine, vanilla and honey and roasts in the oven then as it cools and is refrigerated, the juices thicken and become a beautiful crimson color.
I had a feeling that this Polenta Cake and the Pum Compote would be a perfect match and they were.
Polenta Cake with Plum Compote
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
A light dessert to enjoy after dinner or with a cup of coffee.
Ingredients
Compote
- 1–1/2 pounds prune plums
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 tablespoons honey
Cake
- 1/2 pound butter
- 1 cup sugar
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pinenuts
Instructions
Compote
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Halve the prunes and remove the pits, place into a baking pan.
- Pour wine on top of plums, then add vanilla and honey. Stir to combine.
- Cover baking pan with foil and bake for 35-45 minutes, until plums are very soft.
- Chill for 4 hours so the juices thicken.
Polenta Cake
- Preheat oven to 350º. Brush a 4 x 8″ loaf pan with butter then dust with flour.
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and stir. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, then add flavorings and sour cream. Stir in the cornmeal, then the flour mixture.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan then scatter the pinenuts on top, slightly pressing them into the batter. Place in center of oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan.
- For Serving: pour a couple of spoonfuls of the compote on top of the cake.
Notes
If you serve the cake without the compote, sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: dessert
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