Name: Polenta cake with burnt figs and honey
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 95 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 110 gm coarse polenta; 300 gm unsalted butter, softened; 150 gm sugar; 4 eggs, at room temperature; 100 gm honey, plus extra, warmed, to serve; 50 gm (1/3 cup) self-raising flour; 200 gm blanched almonds, finely ground; Vin santo mascarpone; 40 ml vin santo (or to taste); 250 gm mascarpone; 1 tbsp pure icing sugar, sifted; Burnt figs; 8 figs, halved; For dusting: raw caster sugar

Polenta cake with burnt figs and honey

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for polenta cake with burnt figs and honey.

Serves 8

Prep

15M

Cook

1H 20M

Total

1H 35M

Ingredients

110 gm coarse polenta

300 gm unsalted butter, softened

150 gm sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

100 gm honey, plus extra, warmed, to serve

50 gm (1/3 cup) self-raising flour

200 gm blanched almonds, finely ground

Vin santo mascarpone

40 ml vin santo (or to taste)

250 gm mascarpone

1 tbsp pure icing sugar, sifted

Burnt figs

8 figs, halved

For dusting: raw caster sugar

Method

Main

1.Preheat oven to 150C. Combine polenta and 80ml boiling water in a heatproof bowl, stir well, set aside. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add honey, flour, polenta and ground almonds and stir to combine. Spoon into a buttered and floured 11cm x 21cm loaf pan, smoothing top. Bake in centre of oven until a skewer inserted into centre withdraws clean (1 hour 20 minutes). Cover cake with foil during baking if it becomes too dark. Cool in tin for 15 minutes, then carefully invert onto a plate.

2.For vin santo mascarpone, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate.

3.Meanwhile, for burnt figs, place figs cut-side up on an oven tray, scatter evenly with sugar and caramelise using a blow torch (1-2 minutes; see note).

4.Serve cake topped with figs, drizzled with extra honey, and mascarpone to the side.

Note If you don’t have a blowtorch, you can caramelise the figs cut-side down in a hot frying pan dusted with sugar.
Drink Suggestion: The same vin santo you used in the recipe. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes