However, I needed a gluten free cake for the Vital Spark book swap event, I helped out with last month, just in case. When I was trying to decide what to make, Charlotte of Go Free Cakes suggested the Pink Whisk's clementine polenta cake. Brilliant idea which reminded me of my very own chocolate version. And Fair Trade Fortnight had only just finished, so a particularly apt time to use the Divine bar. No more thinking required.
This is what I did:
- Melted 150g unsalted butter in a large pan over a low heat.
- Added 100g Divine's 70% dark chocolate with raspberries.
- Added 150g dark muscovado sugar.
- Stirred until all melted and combined then left to cool a little.
- Beat in 2 duck egg yolks and 1 tbsp redcurrant liqueur (rather than Marsala or brandy)
- Sieved in 75g ground almonds, 75g fine polenta and 30g cocoa powder (G&B) and stirred into the chocolate mixture.
- Whisked 2 duck egg whites until stiff, then folded into the batter.
- Poured into a 21cm cake mould and baked at 180C for 30 minutes when the top was firm to the touch.
NB 13/4/12 I have been made aware that there is no guarantee that the chocolate and possibly other products used in the recipe are 100% gluten free. This is because Divine chocolate is produced in a factory where products containing gluten are made and this could be the case for other things too, such as the polenta. You can see their disclosure here.
LOL can you STOP posting chocolate recipes! I think I might just try this one, I'm curious about how polenta works in baking;)
ReplyDeleteFiona if you haven't yet tried this, do use fine polenta - medium or coarse makes it a bit to gritty. I may well stop posting chocolate recipes at some point, but I'm not quite ready to give up yet ;-)
DeleteOh wow, what an amazing recipe! I was just speaking to a friend about baking with duck eggs and this looks like a great cake to start with. Thanks for sharing - it looks divine!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jaime - I use duck eggs for baking whenever I can get them.
DeleteSounds great. I love what ground almonds does to a cake.
ReplyDeleteThanks Janice - quite interesting what polenta does to a cake too.
DeleteRaspberries and chocolate go so very well together. That is a delicious tart that looks amazingly dark, moist and full of flavour xx
ReplyDeleteThank you - raspberries and chocolate seem to be a well loved classic.
DeleteIt looks lovely and I'm sure greatly appreciated by all. I'd love to see what some of your other 'go to' cakes are.
ReplyDeleteAh thanks Katie - others may appear in due course ;-)
DeleteThis sounds lovely. I wonder, could you add some fresh raspberries in to it to up the raspberry flavour? Anyway, sounds so delish I will definitely give it a go. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I have been thinking I might try it with fresh raspberries. It's certainly very good served with raspberries. If you do make it, do let me know what you think.
DeleteRaspberry chocolate sounds wonderful! And I like that it's gluten free. Looks yum!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have a few good gluten free recipes that stand on their own.
Deletebeautiful and perfect for passover with its un-leavened nature and lack of flour!.. the combo of raspberries and chocolate is rather sensuous too!
ReplyDeleteAh Dom, it must be my Jewish roots that somehow got me posting this for Passover!
DeleteI am a BIG lover of polenta in baking and this cake looks wonderful. I have a lavender and polenta cake recipe that I serve with raspberries, and it is always a hit.....but, I bet that chocolate and polenta is a great combination.
ReplyDeleteKaren so glad you like polenta - there do seem to be a few doubters. Love the thought of your lavender version - when are you posting it?
DeleteFantastic, I need a few gluten free recipes for the summer as we may have a guest who is gluten intolerant! I will be contacting Charlotte for some ideas in a few weeks, but will try this lovely recipe next week, Thanks. Jude x
ReplyDeleteIt is a good one Jude. Did you get to make it in the end?
DeleteChocolate polenta cake - that's creative and I've never heard of using polenta to make a cake (even a gluten-free variety). It looks delicious and although I've never baked with chocolate that already included raspberries, I love to serve warm raspberries over chocolate cake (especially if I have a little vanilla ice cream to go with it)...
ReplyDeleteJW - polenta cakes are quite different, but very good. Nigella does a nice rhubarb and polenta cake which I've made a few times. Fresh raspberries go really well with this cake too, but as you say chocolate and raspberries - mmmmm!
DeleteYeh I wanted this recipe! I wish I had seen it earlier as I just made a whole load of gluten free bakes - I ended up making a lemon and berry polenta cake instead as I was not sure of the ratios. I am doing a post on gluten free bakes as I often get asked to make some. I bookmarked the chocolate one so is on my to do list. Do you think white choclate would also work?
ReplyDeleteCakeboule, lemon & berry polenta cake sounds delicious. I've made Nigella's rhubarb and polenta cake a few times and that's really good too. White chocolate would make quite a different cake, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
DeleteThis is one I have to make!!
ReplyDeleteHope you like it Rosanna - I was quite excited about using the Divine raspberry chocolate in it.
DeleteThis cake sounds delicious. I've never baked anything sweet with polenta - does it add a slightly grainy texture to the cake or is it nice and smooth?
ReplyDeleteIt certainly gives a slightly crunchy texture, which most seem to like. I use fine polenta now. I've made it with coarse and that really is just too crunchy.
DeleteLovely! How about substituting some of the ground almonds for dried raspberries to give a more raspberry hit but without making the mixture too wet if you added fresh??
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, but I think I'd just add them rather than substituting. Or better still, just eat it with fresh raspberries - I've done that on a few occasions, oh, err, and did I mention the cream!
DeleteI do love a polenta cake. Such a good texture that works so well in both sweet & savoury dishes. A brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteOh good Laura, glad to find another polenta lover - there seem to be a few who are not quite so keen.
DeleteI havent baked a polenta cake in ages. I've only ever tried it with lemon so would love to try a chocolate polenta cake.
ReplyDeleteLemon sounds good Roz, what did you think?
DeleteI must try polenta cakes - the only one I ever made was pronounced 'a bit crunchy' and not well received, so I must try again. This looks like a lovely recipe, and so pleasing that you had a visitor who benefitted from it too!
ReplyDeleteC, thank you. I think some folk don't like the texture, but if you use fine ground polenta, the crunch isn't as noticeable.
DeleteThis looks good. I love the combniation of chocolate and raspberry. I'll have to try a polenta cake too as so far I've only ever had polenta in savoury dishes.
ReplyDeletePolenta is very different to flour, but it makes for a really interesting cake.
DeleteI have tried this but the polenta was quite crunchy - so maybe I need to see out fine ground polenta and see if that makes a difference because other than that the cake seems lovely - though I tried this last night and managed to make a mess of it but through no fault of the recipe - just too distracted to watch the oven timer!
ReplyDeleteJohanna, sorry you didn't get to taste it at it's best. I use fine polenta (have amended recipe now) which gives a little bit of texture, but hopefully in a nice way. I've tried it with coarser polenta in the past and it's not as good IMHO.
DeleteI have just printed this off on the colour printer at work (saves my ink lol) to send home to try. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it Giles, if you like it, you can play around with the flavours for future bakes.
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