Recipe: Red Grape, Polenta, and Olive Oil Cake

the appetizer:

Cake Keeper Cakes: 100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes, Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes, and Other Good-to-the-Last Crumb Treats by Lauren Chattman, includes recipes like Red Grape, Polenta, and Olive Oil Cake; Stout and Chocolate Snacking Cake with Chocolate-Stout Glaze; and Cranberry-Walnut Bundt Cake with Maple-Espresso Glaze; as well as information on Bundt Pans.

Red Grape, Polenta,
and Olive Oil Cake

Serves 8 to 10

Here is a rustic Italian-style cake, fragrant from olive oil and juicy with roasted grapes. If you add all the grapes at once, they'll sink to the bottom, so reserve half and scatter them on top of the cake after it's been in the oven for 10 minutes. They'll sink slightly but still be visible. Dust the cake with confectioners' sugar before serving for a pretty presentation. If it is a dinner party dessert, serve it with an Italian sweet wine like Vin Santo or with small glasses of grappa.

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1-3/4 cups (about 10 ounces) red seedless grapes, washed and dried
Confectioners'sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round springform pan. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Combine the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium-high speed until light in color and increased in volume, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the oil in a slow, steady stream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for 1 minute. Stir in the milk, vanilla, and lemon zest on low speed.

3. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until just incorporated. Stir in 1/2 of the grapes. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.

4. Scatter the remaining grapes over the top of the partially baked cake and continue to bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes longer.

5. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Release the sides from the pan and let the cake cool completely before dusting with confectioners'sugar, cutting into wedges, and serving.

6. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

from:
Cake Keeper Cakes
100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes,
Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes, and
Other Good-to-the-Last Crumb Treats
by Lauren Chattman
The Taunton Press 2009
$17.95; Paperback Original
ISBN: 1600851207
ISBN 13: 978-1-60085-120-9
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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