I wanted some cake, I had some polenta & pears. This is what I made.
Three fresh, ripe red Anjou pears……..
…and a new Bundt pan…things do not always end up the way you plan…
…careful greasing, making sure I got into every crook, curve and cranny and the top of my cake still stuck in the pan! I really didn’t mind. I gently perched the pointed tops back on for this photo. The moist, just right sweetness, the fresh pears & golden polenta still tasted fantastic…that was really all I cared about. Life is not perfect, but delicious.
Perfectly-Imperfect Golden Polenta & Pear Bundt Cake
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup polenta
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/4 cup raw sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3 firm, but ripe, pears, cored, peeled & cubed
- 2 tsps lemon zest
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt pan well.
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the polenta, flour, baking soda & salt.
- Using an electric mixer beat together the sugar, olive & canola oils, eggs & vanilla extract until pale yellow.
- Add dry ingredients to mixture and beat on low just until combined. Fold in the pears & lemon zest.
- Scrape batter into the prepared Bundt pan, gently tapping pan on counter to release any air pockets in the batter.
- Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Turn cake out onto a dish and cool completely. Serve in slices warm or room temp. This cake is so moist that is good for a few days.
okay, Teresa, how do i get in touch with you besides FoF? loving the recipes. hoping yall are good. we are leaving May 3 for Eastport. come visit. 5th can be the 45th parallel, although we don’t have pears that are anything but firm.
love april
Sent from my iPad
>
April, I just heard you guys are selling your beautiful home! But hear you are also staying in the neighborhood and of that I am glad. Here is my email: teresablackburn1@mac.com phone is: 615-429-2069
You may not have pears but I know you and Bill have lots of other good stuff including the ocean, a wonderful Eastport home and delicious berries! Thanks for the invite April. Much love to you as well.
Just my kind of cake, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Marisa for stopping by.
i love now knowing where all the magic happens….xox
Oh Barbara we had such a great time with you and Johan. Such great houseguests, family and friends. Love to you both and thinking of you. Have a good week with your event. T
Beautiful, beautiful pears – this is a gorgeous cake!
Thank you. It is the simplicity of ingredients that makes it so good. The texture is just wonderful and the cake very moist. I appreciate your comment.
I was admiring the shape of this Bundt pan Teresa. Your unique and sceumptious creation is one of a kind! Love the olive oil in this cake and the short ingredient list. My kind of baking!
I know Johanne, I am a somewhat “lazy” cook in that when I see a long list of ingredients I just keep turning the page. Time is so important to me these days that as much as I love to cook, I do not want to get so caught up in the ingredient list as much as the finished product. I believe use a few interesting ingredients and the rest will come.
I appreciate your visits to FoF so much and am enjoying your posts. Last night I did indeed have toast smeared with avocado inspired by your blog post! Happy April.
What a gorgeous cake, Teresa – pears and polenta sound amazing!! And you are right, life isn’t perfect but it should be delicious!!! The same thing happened to me when I was making a honey cake in a Bundt pan – I greased it so well but the cake got stuck and broke coming out. Unfortunately it was for a ‘naked’ cake birthday so I couldn’t frost it together and had to start again. The second time I buttered and floured the pan and the cake slipped out perfectly!
Yes Selma after I made this cake I felt so silly. Of course if I had floured the pan it would have slipped out, but for some strange reason I just skipped this essential part! Well, lesson learned. This cake is one of the best I have made in a while, somewhat cake-bread, not too sweet and with those pears…just yummy. Hope you are well and thanks for reminding me of the flour part!
Hi Terese–I have also found that these new Bundt pans benefit from a few rounds in the oven–they become more seasoned and cooperative. yummy combination of polenta and pears!
You are so right about “seasoning” the pan….I guess the only way to do that is to just use them and hope for the best and eventually they will work perfectly!
I love the combination of pears and polenta, and I love your philosophy of the imperfect, delicious life.
Okay Nancy D. can you not plan a trip down South…write about some brewery or new whisky or other drinkable or edible? Nashville is just the most fun right now with warmer weather and with so many interesting fun places to check out? Hope you are well. T
Maybe imperfect but so yummy
Reblogged this on Foodfhonebook.
Thanks for the reblog.
My favorite!
I love the crunch of a cake like this and also the simpleness , delicious!
Simple is the best and crunch is always nice.
Amazing recipie!!!
Thanks so much We Are Berry Bites!
Just added a fresh bag of polenta to the pantry…and this blend of ingredients from your cake will adapt very well to my still slim fruit drawer ;o)
Funny about the new pan and what surprises happen…I had a similar thing happen to me when I made my sausage, chickpea buns in a ‘financier’ pan. Delicious turn out with a few broken off edges. LOL.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Reblogged this on Royal Graffiti.