This moist apple polenta cake is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. It becomes an elegant dessert if served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The polenta flour gives the cake a pleasant rustic texture and a lovely flavour. The apple cake is a staple of the Italian cuisine, every family has its own recipe: some families prepare it with a lot of cinnamon, others using lemon or orange zest. It doesn’t matter which recipe you use, there’s nothing more cosy and comforting than the scent that an apple cake in the oven emanates all over your home 🙂 . It’s simply divine!
The apple polenta cake is quick and easy to prepare. Like for any other cake, the most important rule is to have all the ingredients at room temperature when you start preparing it. Once all your ingredients are ready and at the same temperature you just have to beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and fluffy, add the dry ingredients, oil and milk, pour the batter into a tin and arrange the apple slices on the top. After 40/50 minutes in the oven your apple polenta cake is ready. I love glazing the apple cake with marmalade to make it shiny but, if you prefer, sprinkle the top with a mix of icing sugar and cinnamon.
This apple polenta cake is made with no butter, so it’s super light and airy but if you are lactose intolerant swap the milk with any plant based beverage, like oat/almond or soy milk and you will have a dairy free cake.
The apple cake stay moist for 3-4 days if kept in an airtight container. If you brush it with marmalade keep the cake in the fridge.
Apple polenta cake
Ingredients
- caster sugar: 170 grams
- plain flour: 150 grams
- polenta flour: 100 grams
- milk: 100 milliliters
- sunflower oil: 100 milliliters
- big eggs: 3
- baking powder: 16 grams
- caster sugar: 4 tablespoons
- apples peeled, cored and cut into 3 mm slices: 4
- lemon , the filtered juice: 1
- ground cinnamon , to taste
- marmalade , orange or apricot: 2 tablespoons
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Put the apple slices into a big bowl with the lemon juice, the 4 tbsp of caster sugar and cinnamon to taste. Mix well, cover and set aside.
- Sift the plain flour with the polenta flour and the baking powder and put aside.
- Start beating the sugar with 1 whole egg with 2 egg yolks (reserve the 2 egg whites) in a food processor using the wire whisk.
- Once the batter is pale and fluffy remove the whisk and put the paddle hook. Start again the food processor on medium speed and add slowly the flour mixture along with the oil.
- Pour in the milk, very slowly.
- In a separate bowl whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.
- Drop a generous scoop of whipped egg whites into the batter. Mix gently to lighten the batter. Then add the rest of the egg whites 1 tbsp at a time,and using a rubber spatula slice down through the middle of the batter, scoop from the bottom of the bowl, and fold over on top.
- Once the batter is lump free pour it into a 24 cm springform cake tin lined with parchment paper.
- Arrange the apple slices on the cake pressing them a little into the batter until they slightly touch the bottom of the pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven to 170°C for about 40/50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Once baked let the cake cool down completely into the tin. Then run a knife along the edges and transfer the cake on a plate. Brush the top with about 2 tbsp of marmalade diluted with a little water.
