I currently have a bit of a fetish for polenta. I don’t know why; there’s just something about this traditional Italian cornmeal porridge that is really floating my boat right now! Polenta is typically a savoury dish, but today I had a hankering for a sweet incarnation of it. This layered apple cake is not too sweet though; you could even serve it for breakfast.
Ingredients:
Spiced Apples
1 cup water
1/2 cup finely chopped dates
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 large apples, cored and thinly sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
Polenta
1 cup unsweetened plant milk
2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 cup polenta
1/2 cup aquafaba (cooking/canning liquid from chick peas)
1/4 cup sultanas
Method:
Spiced Apples
Combine water, dates and spices in a frying pan (preferably stoneware) and bring to the boil. Reduce heat. Add apple slices and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until apple is tender. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove apple slices and continue cooking date and spice liquid until it has reduced to a thick paste. Stir in almonds, then remove from pan.
Polenta
Bring plant milk and water to a rolling boil. Add dates, and slowly trickle in polenta, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Whisk in aquafaba and fold in sultanas.
(If you have a Thermomix, bring water and plant milk to the boil at Varoma temperature, then reduce heat to 100°C and slowly add polenta through the lid hole while stirring on speed 6. Reduce to speed 3 and cook for 15 minutes. Add aquafaba and blend at speed 8 for 10 seconds, then fold in sultanas at speed 4 for 6 seconds.)
Preheat oven to 180°C.
To assemble, pour half the polenta into a Pyrex baking dish – or if your stoneware frying pan is ovenproof, use that. Arrange half the apple slices on the polenta. Pour remaining polenta over apples, spreading with a spatula. Arrange remaining apple slices on top, and spread date/almond spice mixture over apples.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
