Photo by Keiko Oikawa
Yuzu Polenta Cake with Sake Sabayon
Every autumn I curate a lunch in the stunning grounds of the Todili Citrus Foundation in Valencia, a non-profit charity and citrus nursery with a collection of 400+ different kinds of citrus trees. This takes place after harvest of olives for the very spectacular Tot Oli in October when many of the Japanese citrus are also in season. In this particular recipe I use fresh yuzu which is available seasonally online, but a good quality yuzu juice works equally well, available from Japanese supermarkets and good supermarkets.
This cake was first published in my latest book Robata – Japanese Home Grilling
The inspiration is a cross between a classic English drizzle cake and an Italian orange polenta cake with a Japanese touch. This cake is gluten free; it can be made with butter or olive oil for a lactose free version as well. The butter version is fluffier, albeit the version made with Vicente’s great Todoli Oil is dense and heavenly caramelised for lactose free version.
If yuzu is not available this cake is also delicious with organic orange or organic blood orange.
Baking takes for accuracy, so now half measures or second guessing; I highly recommend using digital scales and the attention to details will pay off.
200 grams unsalted butter (or 170 grams quality olive oil)
200 grams caster sugar (preferable unbleached)
200 grams ground almond
100 grams polenta
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder (choose gluten free for a gluten cake)
3 large free-range eggs
All the zest of 2 yuzu fruits (can be replaced with organic lemon)
30 ml. fresh yuzu
For the icing
50 ml. yuzu juice
100 grans icing sugar
For the sabayon:
3 free range egg yolks
70 grams caster sugar
65 ml. sake (or a dessert wine like sauternes)
1 persimmon fruit or fresh blood oranges to serve
Line a round cake spring form (23 cm) tin with greaseproof paper. Heat the oven to 180c (160c for fan). Cream sugar and butter (oil) until light and fluffy in a cake mixer. Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then alternate between dry mixture and 1 cracked egg at the time whilst machine is running on moderate speed until all ingredients are incorporated, then add the yuzu juice.
Now make the sake sabayon: whisk 4 egg yolks, sugar and the sake in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a pot of gentle simmering water. Do make sure that the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Whisk for about 5 minutes into a thick foamy cream, removed from the pot and leave to cool down, returning to it a couple of times making sure it does not split. Slice the persimmon into slices to use for a garnish.
Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes until baked through, after 40 minutes to cover the cake with foil to ensure it does not overbake on top. Meanwhile make the syrup gently heat yuzu juice with icing sugar, leave to cool.
When the cake is cooked prick it with a knitting needle about 20 times across the surface of the cake, gently pour in the syrup and leave the cake to cool fully before transferring onto a plate.
Cut cake in 8 and serve with a slice of persimmon and a dollop of sabayon.