Blueberry Cornmeal-Polenta Cake - Gluten Free

With all of the new gluten free mixes arriving on the market, I decided to try a few of the mixes.  So many have added flax meal, so I can only try a few.

I bought a few of Aldi’s liveGfree mixes and have tried a couple of them more than once!

The cornbread mix is a bit too sweet for cornbread for my taste, but I decided it would be great for polenta cake.  Of course my sisters loved the sweet corn muffins I made using it for a get-together!

This is a add-in things as you go along recipe, since I didn’t have to mix up the dry mix as in previous cornmeal/polenta cakes.

Suitable for ovo-lacto vegetarian.

Blueberry Cornmeal-Polenta Cake - Gluten Free

 

Ingredients

 

1 box Gluten free corn bread mix (used liveGfree brand)

2 tbsp powdered milk (used Sanalac)

 

Wet Ingredients

2 large eggs

2 tbsp sour cream

6 tbsp grape seed oil (any neutral oil)

1 tbsp maple syrup (for addl. flavor)

2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp lemon extract)

1/4 cup butter milk

1/2 cup half and half (or coconut cream)

 

Add Ins

1 cup dried blueberries -(ok to use fresh, cake may turn blue)

 

Topping (optional):

2 tsp Turbinado or coarse sugar

 

Procedure

 

Mix all Wet Ingredients together until smooth, whisk in the Dry Ingredients, Fold in the blueberries. Bake in a greased 9 inch pan in a preheated 350F oven, until edges are browned and top begins to brown. It bakes at least 25 minutes.

Remove from oven, let sit for about 2 minutes, loosen sides and shake pan to loosen bottom. Turn out onto a serving dish or cooling rack.

Slice and serve at room temperature.

 

 

 

Servings: 16

 

Nutrition (per 1/16^th of cake): 213 calories, 7.1g total fat, 1.4g monounsaturated fat, 3.7g polyunsaturated fat, 1.4g saturated fat, 30.2mg cholesterol, 293.9mg sodium, 29.9mg calcium, 104.5mg potassium, 5.6mcg folate, 25.7mg phosphorus, 9.2mg phytosterols, 0mcg lycopene, 2.2mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, <1mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, 1.3mg vitamin c, 2.2IU vitamin d, <1mg zinc, 33.7g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 31.7g net carbohydrates, 15.5g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g lactose, <1g maltose, <1g sucrose, 2.5g protein.

 

 

 Just in case you plan to eat the whole thing!

 

Nutrition (entire cake): 3406 calories, 114.1g total fat, 22.6g monounsaturated fat, 59.2g polyunsaturated fat, 23.1g saturated fat, 483.3mg cholesterol, 4701.7mg sodium, 478.4mg calcium, 1671.8mg potassium, 89.3mcg folate, 410.8mg phosphorus, 146.9mg phytosterols, 0mcg lycopene, 35.8mcg selenium, <1mg thiamin, 1.9mcg vitamin b12, <1mg vitamin b6, 20.2mg vitamin c, 35IU vitamin d, 3.1mg zinc, 539.3g carbohydrates, 32g fiber, 507.3g net carbohydrates, 247.3g sugar, <1g fructose, <1g galactose, <1g glucose, <1g lactose, <1g maltose, 11.4g sucrose, 40g protein.

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That time of the year again….Fig Cornmeal Cake(AKA Polenta Cake) (Gluten-Free)

Every fall, I have to remind myself to get black figs at Whole Foods Market, so I can make a fig cornmeal/polenta cake.

Normally, I just buy 1 carton, Thursday I bought two without thinking. So, I added a few more figs to this version of my Fig Cornmeal Cake. 

This is a once a year treat, so I do not skimp on the ingredients.  I accidently picked up part-skim ricotta cheese instead of full-fat, so I improvised from the first  Gluten-Free Fig Cornmeal Cake (AKA Polenta Cake). A little more ricotta  and buttery spread was added to make up for the missing fat.




Gluten-Free Fig Cornmeal Cake II


Ingredients
Wet ingredients
1/3 cup Buttery Spread  + 1 tbsp (used Earth Balance)
1/4 cup   Honey 
1/2 cup Turbinado or Demerara sugar 
2 large eggs
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tsps vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange juice  Dry ingredients1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup Coconut Flour Blend (purchased)
1/2 cup almond flour (almond meal)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea saltAdd- in8 to10 black figs, sliced (about 10)
2 Tbsp Turbinado or Demerara sugar, for topping 
Procedures

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 10-inch cast iron skillet.
• In a large bowl, beat all Wet Ingredients until creamy.
• Whisk all Dry Ingredients together and fold into batter.

• Pour about 2/3 of batter into prepared skillet. Top with the halved figs. If they are large, slice into 3 pieces. 

• Spread remainder of batter over and spread to cover figs.  Sprinkle the Turbinado sugar over the top.

• Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Remove from oven and allow  to cool. Cut into wedges and serve plain or with honey or whipped cream..

Servings: 12


Nutrition Facts as prepared
Nutrition (per wedge): 277 calories, 11.1g total fat, 3.7g monounsaturated fat, 1.1g polyunsaturated fat, 5.2g saturated fat,56.6mg cholesterol, 42.6g carbohydrates, 3.4g fiber, 39.2g net carbohydrates, 28.8g sugar, 2.9g fructose,  110.3mg sodium, 276mg potassium, 5.2g protein, 127.5mg calcium, 1.1mg iron.

And, it was worth waiting for…
I may attempt to dehydrate or use the remainder in muffins, because I don’t really like the sweet taste of fresh figs.

Gluten-Free Fig Cornmeal Cake (AKA Polenta Cake)

It has been so hot lately, that I have not wanted to cook anything that would require using the oven or burners. This summer seems to be hotter than any I remember. Maybe it’s because I spent so many years working during the day. Now that I am retired, I can see the weather as it happens.

Finally, the temperature dropped a bit after a few storms rolled through.

Saturday is a day that I normally bake, but it was hot again, so no real cooking!

Sunday afternoon, decided to make a fig polenta (cornmeal) cake. I haven’t seen a gluten free one that really grabs me and says “Come here, make me”.

So I looked at a few regular ones and then decided what ingredients and flour mix I wanted to use.
First, I needed to use some slightly over-ripe figs. I wanted to add either sour cream, yogurt or ricotta cheese. I also wanted to either include some almond or coconut flour.

Flour mix:
- Cornmeal: 50%
- Almond flour: 25% (actually meal, ground in the food processor)
- Coconut flour: normally 25% reduced to 12.5% because recipe already has lots of fiber
Yogurt, Sour Cream or Ricotta Cheese:
- Discovered that I had whole milk Ricotta, definitely would use it!
Butter and Shortening
-Shortening – Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread (also like to use salt free Fleishman’s margarine, didn’t have any)
Sweeteners
Honey, agave, granulated sweetener
Wild Flower Amber Honey and Zulka granulated sugar (a Mexican coarse grained raw sugar)

Once the whole milk Ricotta was going to be used, decided to limit the eggs to two. It’s not that this dessert is low fat or low sugar; at least I did not want to add more that I needed as to get a really tasty treat!

Well, the cake came out delicious. This is my second cornmeal cake (AKA polenta cake).

Gluten-Free Fig Cornmeal Cake (AKA Polenta Cake)
Very nice aroma while this one is baking. It has a cake like crumb. As with so many gluten free baked goods, it is brittle when it first comes out of the oven. Once cooled, the brittleness goes away,

Ingredients
1/3 cup Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
1/2 cup Turbinado or Demerara sugar (used Zulka brand)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup Wild Flower Amber Honey (used the 365 brand)
1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange juice + 2 tbsp divided
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup whole almond meal (grind in food processor)
1/8 cup coconut flour
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 black figs, sliced
2 tbsp coarse grained sugar for topping

Procedures

• Gather all of the ingredients

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or spray with an oil spray, a 10 1/2 -inch cast iron skillet (well seasoned).
• Combine cornmeal, cornstarch, coconut flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt. If you grind your own almond meal, sift all together to get rid of any lumps, set aside.

• In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and Ricotta until creamy.
• Add shortening and beat until fluffy. Whisk in the honey.

• Add eggs, mixing well. Mix in vanilla and 1/2 cup of the orange juice.

• Whisk the cornmeal mix into batter, just until mixed. If the batter needs more liquid, add the additional orange juice. It is ok to add it anyway.

• Pour 3/4 of batter into prepared skillet. Spread the figs evenly over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over top. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons coarse grained sugar evenly over top of batter.

• Bake 30 to 32 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and tooth pick in center comes out clean or with small crumbs.

• Remove from oven and allow cooling. Cut and serve plain or with a dollop of cream.

Great plain -

With a little cream

With a little cream and a swirl of chocolate – contrasting flavors!

Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts: Serving size: 1/12 of a recipe.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Amount per Serving
Calories 232.04
Total Fat 9.84g
Saturated Fat 4.65g
Cholesterol 54.02mg
Sodium 112.55mg
Potassium 180.37mg
Total Carbohydrates 33.56g
Fiber 2.69g
Sugar 22.7g
Protein 4.43g

Almond Flour/meal
The price of almond flour / meal is quite expensive. It is cost effective to grind your own using a good food processor or grain mill.
Grinding almond meal

• Basically you have a choice of using blanched or skin on almonds, in either roasted or natural. My preference is natural almonds. Natural almonds have more moisture than roasted, so the flour/meal will clump a bit when frozen. That is why it needs to be sifted when using in a recipe.
• Each cup of almond meal needs about 1+1/4 cups almonds.
• I ground about 6 cups natural almonds, placed it in a zippered bag in the freezer.

When it was too hot to cook inside on Friday, I pulled the George Foreman grill into the driveway and grilled baby eggplant and salmon, before the next rainstorm came in. A nice green salad went well with the eggplant and salmon. There is a Sabra Hummus ‘event’ going on, so I used a hummus sauce to top the salmon.

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake – AKA Polenta Cake (gluten free)

I have seen several ‘polenta’ cakes, but never thought about making one.

Ok, isn’t it obvious I like sweets? So the theme of this recipe is ‘You can have your cake – and eat it too!’ Normally rice flours would be used. Instead a mixture of ‘Ancient grains’ are added.  As always, I try to add nutrition to sweet treats.

Polenta translates loosely to cooked cornmeal. It’s a bit too close to grits for my taste buds. Add in a little sugar, butter and other non-nutritious ingredients and I may be willing to give it a try!

It seems that the word Polenta originated in Italy. Today, all grinds of cornmeal is being called Polenta. Someone commented that grits and polenta was the same. That fine white mushy stuff ain’t polenta. It’s called GRITS!

 Hmmm, maybe my next dish should be Polenta. I have a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Polenta that is a very coarse grind. Instead of dessert, maybe I will come up with an entrée worth smacking the lips!

This was my first time making a 'cornmeal' dessert.  Actually it was quite good.  The texture is nothing like corn bread.  It is more like a heavy cake.

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake - Gluten free

Dry Ingredients
1 1/3 cups yellow stone ground cornmeal
2 tbsp millet flour
1/4 cup Quinoa Flour
1/4 cup Amaranth Flour
1 pkg. Jell-O Fat Free, Sugar Free Vanilla Instant Pudding and Pie Mix
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp non-aluminum Baking Powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet Ingredients
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for Baking
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Wild Flower Amber Honey (used 365 brand)
1/3 cup Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
2 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 tbsp milk, as needed
Add Ins
1 cup Fresh Blueberries

Procedures
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake baking pan.
2. Combine the Dry Ingredients, set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix the Splenda and sugar together, and then mix in the Earth Balance. Beat in the honey, vanilla and eggs. Stir in the dry ingredients only until mixed. If additional liquids are needed, stir in the milk.
4. Fold in the blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for approximately 30 minutes. Turn cake onto a serving plate.

Optionally serve with ice cream or whipped cream or Cool Whip, garnished with fresh blueberries.

Enjoy
Servings: 12
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/12 of a recipe (2.4 ounces)
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Amount per Serving
Calories 187.26
Total Fat 6.74g
Saturated Fat 1.55g
Cholesterol 35.66mg
Sodium 326.09
Potassium 72.6mg
Total Carbohydrates 29.2
Fiber 2.09g
Sugar 11.77g
Protein 3.24g