About Cornmeal Cakes

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top 1000Classic Home Desserts
Classic Home Desserts

By Richard Sax

Published 1994

  • About
During the past few years, desserts baked with cornmeal have been enjoying a new wave of popularity, with the grain lending its crunch to butter cakes, cookies, tart crusts and even puddings.

Cornmeal was introduced to Italy via Venice, probably around 1600, through commerce with the Orient. Thinking that this exotic grain was of Oriental origin, the Venetians called it granoturco (Turkish grain). The real origins of cornmeal, of course, are Mexican or Central American.

Cornmeal is used throughout Italy to make polenta and is also traditionally added to dessert cakes and other baked goods.