gritty but good
Corn meal, a spunky and “sweet” cereal grass, is a tantalizing ingredient in a tea cake and twice-baked cookie. Depending on how gritty you like your so-good-with-coffee dipping cookies and cake, either fine or stone-ground corn meal can be used.
The latter, the result of a whole-kernel grind, has a deeper flavor and offers a more rustic, naturally coarse texture; the former makes for a more delicately structured sweet. Both please me, though I do lean toward working with the finer pulverization for the cake and the coarser, earthier type for the rusk-styled cookies.
The corn meal butter dough, which contains jagged pieces of almonds and tart dried cherries, is made by the creamed method, a process that tenderizes, develops texture, and builds volume. It also has the added bonus of improving the look of the cookies, giving the baked oval—and subsequently, the slices—a certain depth. The tea cake batter, also prepared by the creamed method, bakes into a close-textured cake, golden and not-too-sweet; what makes this cake so impressive and gently slips it away from other typical quick-bread batters made with mashed bananas or perfumed with winter citrus peel and juice, is the pleasantly grainy texture of corn meal. Just baked, triangles of cake will remind you of lightly sweetened cornbread, though more delicate and much richer, thanks to the heavy cream and butter. To enhance the overall flavor of the cake (and differentiate it from the concept of dinner bread), granulated sugar and a combination of vanilla extract and fiori di sicilia allows it to flourish on the dessert plate or teatime tray. (Fiori di sicilia is a citrusy essence for flavoring batters and doughs; it is a fragrant scent that gives the cake its soft-spoken complexity.) Together, the combination of vanilla extract, a circumspect amount of fiori di sicilia, and the grated orange peel, cultivates an aroma that distinguishes, rather than overwhelms, giving the cake its soft-spoken complexity.
Having a tea cake or tin of cookies on hand is a luxury, and the following formulas produce two deluxe sweets to enjoy at any time of the day. Pair the cake or cookies with a summery salad of sliced stone fruit (peaches, plums, or nectarines), a bowl of cherries with their stems still attached, or with a poached fruit compote—dried prunes or figs, or fresh velvety pears—come wintertime.
corn meal and cherry dipping cookies
serving: about 2 dozen cookies
ahead: 3 weeks
corn meal butter dough
2 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup stone-ground yellow corn meal
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
11/4 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons almond liqueur (such as amaretto)
3/4 cup skinless slivered almonds
3/4 cup moist tart (Montmorency) dried cherries
about 1/4 cup granulated sugar, for sprinkling on the sliced cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line the bottom of a heavy cookie sheet or rimmed sheet pan with a length of ovenproof parchment paper.
For the dough, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl. Add the corn meal and whisk well to combine.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 3 minutes. Add the sugar in 2 additions, beating for 1 minute after each portion is added. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 45 seconds after each addition. Blend in the almond extract, vanilla extract, and almond liqueur.
On low speed, blend in the leavened flour–corn meal mixture in 2 additions, beating just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured. Work in the almonds and cherries.
Turn the dough onto the baking pan and shape into an oval measuring about 12 inches long. Smooth the edges of the dough to neaten it.
Bake the oval of dough in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until set and a wooden pick withdraws clean. Cool the solid oval on the baking pan on a rack for 20 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 275 degrees F. Have two cookie sheets or rimmed sheet pans at hand.
Slip an offset spatula underneath the baked oval to loosen it from the parchment paper. Carefully transfer the oval to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice the oval on a slight angle into 3⁄4-inch cookies. Arrange the cookies cut side down on the baking pans. Sprinkle a little sugar on the visible cut surface of each.
Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are firm and dry, turning the cookies after 10 minutes. After the turn, the second cut surface of each cookie can be sugared, if you wish. Let the cookies stand on the baking pans for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer them to cooling racks, using a pair of sturdy tongs. Cool completely. Store in an airtight tin.
notes
• bake the sliced cookies until dry, but do not overbake them or the cherries may become leathery and hard
corn meal tea cake
serving: one 10-inch cake, creating 12 to 14 slices
ahead: 3 days
orange, vanilla, and lemon–scented corn meal batter
13/4 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsifted bleached cake flour
11/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fine yellow corn meal
1/2 pound (16 tablespoons or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
11/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
1/4 cup heavy cream
confectioners’ sugar, for sifting over the rim of the baked cake (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Film the inside of a fluted 10-inch false-bottomed tart pan (2 inches deep) with nonstick flour-and-oil spray or softened unsalted butter.
For the batter, sift the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl. Add the corn meal and whisk it in.
Cream the butter in the large bowl of a freestanding electric mixer on moderate speed for 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar in 2 additions, beating for 45 seconds after each portion is added. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 20 to 30 seconds after each addition. Blend in the vanilla extract, fiori di sicilia, and orange peel. On low speed, blend in half of the sifted ingredients, the heavy cream, then the balance of the sifted ingredients, beating just until the particles of flour have been absorbed. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even-textured.
Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake the tea cake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until risen, set, golden on top, and a wooden pick withdraws clean when tested 1 inch from the center of the cake.
Cool the tea cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Carefully lift the cake by the bottom, pushing it up and out to unmold, removing the fluted ring. Serve warm or at room temperature, sliced into wedges, enhancing the rounded edge of each slice with a little sifted confectioners’ sugar, if you wish. Store in an airtight cake keeper.
notes
• be sure to beat the butter for 1 minute only, as increasing the beating time will affect the overall volume, and thus the texture of the baked cake
• fiori di sicilia is available at La Cuisine—The Cook’s Resource; if the essence is unavailable, 3/4 teaspoon orange extract and 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract may be used in its place (add both along with the vanilla extract)
• using fine corn meal maintains the cake’s elegant baked texture; a preferred corn meal for this purpose is Bob’s Red Mill Fine Grind Cornmeal (available in 24-ounce packages)
