a few weeks ago i bookmarked this link which looked like just about the greatest cake ever. i meant to make it for valentine's, but it ended up being a leap day treat.
blood oranges are magical, and they give this cake a perfect dose of it.
blood orange polenta cake
recipe adapted from sunday morning banana pancakes
for the topping...
*3 blood oranges, peel and pith removed, thinly sliced
*1 tsp vegan butter
*2 tsp brown sugar
*1/4 cup pecans, coarsely ground
for the cake...
*1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
*1/4 cup almonds, finely ground
*3/4 cup flour
*3/4 cup polenta or cornmeal
*2 tsp baking powder
*1 tsp salt
*1/2 tsp allspice
*1/2 cup of your best olive oil
*1/2 cup soy yogurt (unsweetened)
*1/2 cup agave
*1/2 cup sugar
*1/2 tsp vanilla
preheat the oven to 350 degrees. meanwhile, butter a round cake pan, line the bottom and sided with parchment paper, and butter again. this felt like doing an art project.
stained glass fruit
slice the blood oranges. sprinkle the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan, making sure it is evenly coating it. add the orange slices in a single layer and top with the pecans, focusing on any gaps left by the oranges. set aside.
in a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the almonds, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and allspice. in a bigger bowl, cream the butter, agave and sugar, vanilla, olive oil, and soy yogurt until they are well-combined. gently mix in the flour mixture. pour the batter into the cake pan and bake 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the center.
up until this point, i felt like a superstar. the cake was turning out amazingly. my only worry was about flipping it...
when the cake is done, let it cool for a couple minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate.
my worry wasn't in vain, as you can see...
disaster cake. but i had just an ounce of hope left so i got creative and tried my best to piece it back together. it wasn't perfect, but my god was it delicious.
any tips for flipping a cake without destroying it?
happy leap day
cheers *^^
