Chef Andrea’s Breakfast Polenta Cake

Name: Chef Andrea’s Breakfast Polenta Cake
Yield: Makes one 8- to 9-inch tube cake; serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: ¼ cup potato starch or cornstarch; ½ cup cornmeal, preferably stone-ground; ⅔ cup (about 4 ounces) unblanched almonds; Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 4 large egg whites; ½ cup plus ¼ teaspoon sugar; 2 large egg yolks; ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened; 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; Grated zest of ½ orange; Grated zest of ½ lemon

Preparation info

Makes one 8- to 9 inch tube cake; serves
6 to 8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Classic Home Desserts

By Richard Sax

Published 1994

About

This simple cornmeal butter cake, with the double crunch of cornmeal and chopped almonds, will brighten the morning. For dessert at the restaurant, Andrea served this cake with berries and a touch of whipped cream. “I like it with a glass of milk,” he once told me.

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup plus

Cake
Dessert
Breakfast
Vegetarian
Gluten-free

Method

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously butter an 8- to 9-inch kugelhopf or Bundt pan; set aside. Place the ½