Fluta tuta polentatiz tartez–What you don’t know ish about tarts!
This week’s choice of Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake by Caitlin of Engineer Baker, is an interesting one! I wouldn’t have selected this–I am a choco-holic, so its great to have someone else getting me at out of my baking comfort zones–testing my palate. This, on the other hand would be my boyfriend’s pick-right up his alley. After all, it calls from some of the most simple, yet complex ingredients–honey (which you can be a connoisseur in), lemon, and figs–plus most of the ingredients are from his home country of Italy. I mean, can’t we all picture indulging in this ricotta polenta cake in the setting sun of Sicily? Pure Genius.
Making this cake was a challenge of sorts–Well, I am moving into a tool shed by the end of the week-so in between baking and moving, packing and sorting, I got a little careless with the cake–I didn’t read through the recipe to see that the butter had to be melted–so I did it last minute to save my behind–I am keeping my fingers crossed on that move. Otherwise, I had set up my baking station as usual and followed all the other directions! HA! I think it all went smoothly but we shall see–the only way to tell is the end product, no? I did do a taste test before plopping it in the oven and it did seem a bit too sweet–like the kind of sweet that tickles the back of your throat? Anyone with me on this? I think I would reduce the honey content as it is the only thing sweeter than sugar cane sugar–the kind of sweet that can be too much. I would say that is my only critique!
Ok, it will be out in 17 min. Look out cubscout–the final results will be in shortly!!
So with the exception of it spilling everywhere ie turning into the blob–it was awesome! I think the sweetness mellowed out a bit and it was slightly remniscient of cornbread-light and fluffy, with a touch of caramel flavoring (maybe it was the golden top piece, I dunno). In the end, it was very nice-I only wish I was in Abruzzi sipping an espresso! 
Marshmallows!!
I am sure many of us have wondered where this puffy, wonderful, even magical substance comes from. Is it from marshy lands, or mars, or a nuclear power plant in Iowa, or the did they come from the sta-puff marshmellow from the Ghostbusters!?! Regardless of where they sprung, I always manage to shove a bag into my face while food shopping–really, i do, to smell it! god marshmallows smell so good even through the plastic bag! Who would have known that they were actually made (once upon a time) at home! and that they indeed came from marsh mallow plant. In fact most people i spoke with were shocked to here that you can make these pillowey confections at home! and so thanks to Judy of Judy’s Gross Eats, TWD bakers this week will be returning to a once upon a time, and making marshmellows in real time-this tuesday.
i am so grateful for this baking group b/c i am trying desserts i would never even think of! have fun everyone!
Back for more on the mallows on tues!
So what went down:
I was really excited to use both potatoe starch and knox gelatin, one bc i have never used it (potat. starch) and the other i havent used save for j-e-l-l-o. Plus, i mean, who makes marshmallows! Well lets just say–things did not go as planned!
First i accidently swung, yes, swung, my electric thermometer into a bowl of water in the sink! Ii picked it up by the cord, and tried to swing over to me from across the sink!) Awsome. that was to the huge dismay of my boyfriend, since he uses it to temp. his meat dinners–oops! so then we had to research how to temp sugar the ole fashion way–soft ball, hard ball, lalalala. i tried my best! hehe. i think i may have heated the sugar a bit hotter than it needed to be because it cooked the eggwhite a tad! the merengue, which was beautiful until i over whisked them! oops again! then i added the vanilla and i felt that was all i tasted!! oops! i dont know what happened–it even turned my mallows a bit brown! then i spread them way to thin in a super long baking sheet–mistake no 72! so my mallows didnt poof or puff or look yummy! lets just say it was a little disaster–not that i have been turned away! oh no! i will try again!! but as for now, it was pretty bad–hence no pictures! when i try again-which may be today–due to the wonderful advice from all the twd bakers–i will take some pix! Happy Day!
Tart your lemon engines!
See you soon!
Update: Tomorrow I buy the ingredients-or rather lemons! This is a fantastic recipe simply for the fact that it requires so little, really. Most of the ingredients are standard baking staples! ALLS you need is 5 lemons to make the magic happen. And so it goes-tomorrow I hit up the market for some tart, sunshine, yellow lemons and begin baking!
April 8th
After engorging myself on buttermilk fried chicken–one would wonder how i got right up to start baking our lemon tarty tart. But lifting my butt off the couch after dinner wasnt the only challenge–when i went to start cooking, i realized i was an egg short! now i dont mess with the chemistry behind baking. if dorie says four eggs-she gets four eggs. so i ran out to the local market and bought another case-(hey its for later baking in the week–sets me up ya know). ah! all is in place now–gots all the ingredients and i have set them up in mise en place’s place.
Now for baking:
Lucky for me i recruited my boyfriend to do the un-fun labors of baking, ie zesting (its not all that bad really, i just wanted to use the juicer!). I also got him to hold the thermometer in the cream for ten minutes as i whisked the cream vigorously! he is such a good sport! together whisking and thermometering we got the lemon cream to rich a nice thick viscous consistency–but we only got the temp up to 176 degrees. after 10 minutes i had settled with that being ok by my standards–sorry to dissappoint dorie. and that is when all the finger licking started! jeez this is amazing lemon curd-cream whatever. my goodness, it was tart and sweet and creamy and mmmmm! good. to think we were going to add butter! awesome. i had to smack my own hand away! ha!
to say that the cream in its final stage was delicious is an understatement–its is as dorie declares–heavenly. light airy,–ethereal. rich and with a tinge of sourocity. this tart is sure to please. in addition the sweet tart dough works beautifly to compliment the tartness of the cream. Dorie is my hero!
Troubleshooting:
i think i may have kneaded the dough a bit much – it may have lost some of its crumbly texture. in addition–a lot of the tart edge broke off when i took off the aluminum foil-might not have been buttered enough or i should not have put it so flush against the tart. oh! and i think i pressed the tart too much into the pan-that may have led to a less crumbly texture as well. K! see you next week for homemade marshmallows.
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