We use cookies and similar technologies to improve user experience, and analyse activities and performance. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. 
Recipe Detail Page
Olive Oil Polenta Bundt Cake with Pine Nuts
Autumn 2015
If you like baklava, you will love this gorgeous, dense, chewy and moist cake. Complex and simple at once, with the exotic flavours of rose and cardamom, it doesn’t need anything else—no whipped cream, no ice cream—just a pot of mint tea. Culinary rose petals are available at specialty grocers and spice emporiums, Middle Eastern shops and online. Never use flowers from a florist for eating! This is a cake that gets better with a little time. Make it 24 hours ahead—it needs to set and the flavours to marry. Serve at room temperature.
Serves 6 to 8
2 tbsp (30 mL) flour, more or less, for flouring the cake pan (if pan is not nonstick)
1 cup (250 mL) pine nuts, divided
1¼ cups (310 mL) olive oil
1 cup (250 mL) sugar
2 cups (500 mL) ground almonds (almond flour)
¾ cup (175 mL) polenta (fine yellow cornmeal)
1½ tsp (7 mL) baking powder
2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon
½ tsp (2 mL) sea salt
¼ cup (60 mL) dried rose petals
3 free-range eggs
1 batch of Rose-Cardamom Syrup (recipe follows)
1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2 Grease and flour a 9-inch (23-cm) bundt pan; butter and nonstick spray both work, and don’t worry if the pan is a titch bigger or smaller.
3 Evenly distribute ¼ cup (60 mL) of the pine nuts around the bottom of the pan, and set aside.
4 Add the oil and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until some air has been worked in and it looks a bit paler, about 2 minutes.
5 In another large bowl, stir together the almond flour, polenta, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and rose petals.
6 With the mixer on medium-high, add some of the dry mixture followed by 1 of the eggs, alternating until all the dry mixture and eggs have been incorporated.
7 Add the remaining pine nuts and stir in with spatula.
8 Scrape batter into the pan, spreading it evenly—give the pan a few vigorous shakes on the counter—and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into it comes out mostly clean—there may be a few grains clinging to it—and the cake has shrunk away from the sides of the pan a wee bit. Set aside to a cooling rack; leave it in the pan.
9 Prick the cake all over with the cake tester (don’t use anything bigger; that would damage the structure of the cake).
10 If the Rose-Cardamom Syrup is cold, you’ll need to warm it slightly. Pop it in the microwave for a few seconds or heat in a small saucepan over low heat until just warm. Spoon most of the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool completely before turning it out of the pan. Save some syrup to drizzle over the cake when you turn it over the next day.
Serves 6 to 8
ROSE-CARDAMOM SYRUP
Floral and sweet, but nicely balanced by the bitter tannins of the tea, this syrup makes the cake! If you are not a cardamom fan, leave it out; the syrup will still be delicious. Rosewater is available at many major grocery stores in the “international foods” aisle, or look for it in Middle Eastern and East Indian shops.
6 small green cardamom pods, smashed
¼ cup (60 mL) rose water
¼ cup (60 mL) water
1 tsp (5 mL) loose-leaf black tea
½ cup (125 mL) icing sugar
1 Using the bottom of a sturdy jar or mug, smack the cardamom pods until they crack open.
2 In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring rose water, water, tea, cardamom pods and icing sugar to a low, gentle boil, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat to low and let simmer, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.
3 Strain through a fine sieve or cheesecloth to remove tea and pods.
Makes ½ cup (125 mL)
