There’s nothing better than a warm homemade cake on Mother’s Day, and cook and nutritionist Melanie Lionello is bringing a rustic Italian favourite to Weekend Sunrise.
The social media foodie behind From My Little Kitchen has just released her new cookbook, Easy Italian Dinners: From My Little Kitchen, packed with simple, wholesome recipes inspired by her Italian heritage and family traditions.
On Sunday morning, Lionello whipped up her winter cake with seasonal apple, orange and fennel, a dense Venetian-style bake featuring polenta, grappa, dried fruit and warming winter flavours.
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Melanie Lionello shares cosy Venetian winter cake recipe packed with apple, orange and fennel. Credit: Sunrise
Ingredients
Serves 8-10
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) grappa
- 90 g (3/4 cup) sultanas (golden raisins)
- 6 dried figs, cut into small sultana-size pieces
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (whole)
- 1 green apple, peeled, cored and grated
- zest of 1 orange
- 50 g (1/3 cup) pine nuts
- 800 ml (28 fl oz) full-cream (whole) milk
- 200 g (1 1/3 cups) polenta (see Note)
- 70 g (21/2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 120 g (4 1/4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
- 80 g (2 3/4 oz) butter, cut into cubes
- 7 g (1/4 oz) baking powder
- icing (confectioners’) sugar, to serve
Method
- To start, prepare your dried fruit as far in advance as you can, whether it’s 30 minutes or the night before.
- Place the grappa, sultanas, dried figs, fennel seeds, grated apple, orange zest and pine nuts in a small bowl to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-forced.
- Line a cake pan (about 20 cm/8 inches for square, or 23 cm/9 inches for round or rectangular) with baking paper, making sure there is a little to hold on to for lifting the cake out later. Set aside.
- Place the milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. Heat until just before boiling – the top of the milk will be frothy – then add the polenta. Cook for 5–7 minutes, stirring, until the mixture has thickened to resemble cake batter. Remove from the heat.
- Add the flour, caster sugar, butter, baking powder and the soaked fruit and grappa mixture and mix to combine well. Pour the batter into the lined cake tin and bake for 55 minutes until golden on top.
- Let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes before carefully lifting the cake out of the tin onto a wire rack using the baking paper. Cool the cake to room temperature, then dust with icing sugar and enjoy.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze in slices for up to 3 months.
NOTE: I use fine polenta for this recipe. If you use coarse, cook for an extra 10 minutes.
