Polenta - Ricotta Cake with Dates & Walnuts (Deila Smith)

Any reason is a good reason to bake . Yes, that is totally me!  I was not supposed to bake this cake  the other day but I was a bit anxious as my elder son  was passing his exam . Yes, I know that sounds really silly but I can’t help it so the only way to relieve stress I need to bake .  While going thru all the recipes that I’ve bookmarked , I’ve spotted this Deila Smith’s date  recipe that calls for polenta (cornmeal) . We love sweet or savory polenta cakes . .Really glad that I’ve almost all the ingredients required for this cake & my hubby loves date too . Another good reason to bake this cake, right! LOL  I did not have any pecan nuts in my pantry so I used walnuts instead .  According to Deila Smith this is a dead easy cake & she was right !  It was so easy that I was a bit carried away & added white caster sugar instead of golden ones ! LOL  My cake was not as brown as Deilas but noneless this is a crumbly moist tasty cake with lovely nutty flavour. The addition of dates does gave it a delicate sweetness & paired very well with Amaretto . The only thing that I would change for this cake is adding to the damerra sugar with some finely chopped nuts & cinnamon topping which I ‘m sure  makes it even tastier . I reckon that this will make a very special coffee cake .   As you can see my cake has a crackly top just like my mood that day ! LOL

Polenta - Ricotta Cake with Dates & Walnuts

Adapted from Deila Online

Ingredients:

200g polenta

250g ricotta

175g chopped dates + 8 dates for topping

50g lightly toasted pecan buts roughly chopped ( I’ve used toasted walnuts)

3 tbsp Amaretto

200g self-raising

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

225g golden caster sugar ( I’ve used white caster sugar)

100g melted butter

1 tbsp demerara sugar

20 cm cake pan

Directions:

1)      Preheat oven to 170°C & greased cake pan . Soak dates with Amaretto .

2)      Sift polenta, flour , baking powder & cinnamon . 

3)      Whisk caster sugar, butter, ricotta with 200ml tepid water about 1 minutes till well combined . Fold in dates with Amaretto & chopped nuts & mix well . Pour batter in cake pan & smooth the top . Sprinkle demerara sugar evenly over the top & bake for 1 ¾  to 2 hours till golden brown . ( I’ve baked this cake for 1h 20) . When it’s cooked it will feel springy in the centre when you make a light depression with your finger .

Linking this post to Cook Like A Star event – Cook Like Deila Smith hosted by  Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids & co hosting with  Baby Sumo of Heart Your Heart Out  with  Mich of Piece Of Cake.