When it comes time to bake, polenta likely isn’t the first ingredient you reach for. The corn-based powder typically appears in the form of a simple side dish or a creamy Italian porridge. Yet, polenta is surprisingly multi-purpose and just as versatile as any other pantry staple. In fact, one of the best ways to take advantage of the ingredient is by baking a cake. That’s because polenta adds to your baked good’s texture, in addition to a subtle corn taste.
On the textural end, polenta may seem like it’ll turn your favorite cake grainy, but in actuality, it works well in tandem with your other baking ingredients. When paired with a smooth flour, for instance, polenta incorporates a delicious crumbliness into your cake. It likewise offers a tenderness. After all, polenta, when cooked on its own, turns creamy, so you can infuse your cake with this same textural benefit.
Meanwhile, when it comes to flavor, your cake will have subtle notes of cornmeal, but the effect won’t taste overwhelming alongside roughly equal parts of flour. In fact, that course texture ultimately allows your polenta to latch on to surrounding flavors and create a cohesive, dynamic cake. At its best, polenta cake is rustic, tender, and likely to melt in your mouth. As such, it works great across cake recipes, whether sweet or savory.
Incorporate polenta across both sweet and savory cakes for a tender crumb
While polenta may not seem like a cake-making staple, it’s actually a useful tool across cake recipes, whether they be sweet and traditional or more savory. For proof of polenta’s success in savory cakes, try making Tasting Table’s miniature elote-style cakes, which are like an elevated Mexican take on cornbread. In that recipe, the polenta enhances the corn flavor, riffing off a corn filling for a fluffy and delicious cake. If you’re worried about any added grittiness from the polenta, simply use an ultra-fine ground polenta. That way, you’ll cover all of your bases and improve your cake’s tenderness and taste, maximizing the potential of polenta.
If you’d rather have a more traditional (think: sweet) cake, there are plenty of options that exceed any corn flavor profile. Try Tasting Table’s olive oil polenta cake, which comes glazed in a combination of powdered sugar and milk. For another savory option, draw inspiration from Italy. An Italian-style polenta cake pairs great with coffee and isn’t overly sweet. Italian polenta cake recipes vary, but you can incorporate your favorite flavors, such as citrus or even rum, to tailor the dish to your own personal preferences.
