Polenta is a traditional Northern Italian dish: a creamy warm porridge made with coarsely ground cornmeal, made from yellow corn. Polenta is a side dish that is usually served next to a meat stew (spezzatino).
In Northern Italy we like Polenta so much that we use it to bake cakes too 😉 Today I decided to mix the grainy and creamy polenta texture with almonds and ricotta in order to create a very moist and delicate cake. Considering all the ingredients the cake is super healthy and nutritious, perfect for an after school snack or a breakfast.
The cake is naturally gluten free as polenta doesn’t contain gluten.
- 4.8 oz. polenta flour 125g
- 5 oz. almonds 140g
- 9 oz. ricotta 250g
- 1 stick/8 Tbsp butter 115g
- 1/3 cup honey 130gr
- 4 eggs
- zest 1 lemon
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla
- one handful almonds 40g
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
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Preheat the oven at 170C/340F.
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Place the almonds in a food processor and mix them in order to obtain a grainy flour
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In one bowl mix the melted butter with the honey using an electric whisk.
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Add the lemon zest and the vanilla, whisk.
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Divide the egg whites from the yolks.
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Add the yolks to the butter/honey mix, whisk.
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Add the ricotta, whisk.
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Add the almond flour, whisk.
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Add the polenta flour and the baking powder, whisk.
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In a separate bowl place the egg whites and a pinch of salt. Whisk the egg whites to soft peak.
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Using a wooden spoon slowly and delicately add the egg whites to the batter.
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Place the batter in a cake pan, I used a 9 inch spring form cake pan.
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Sprinkle on top one handful of sliced almonds.
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Bake for 50 minutes
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Enjoy!
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