Carrot Polenta Cake with Marsala

Iphone snap of the photo from my book, The Glorious Vegetables of Italy. Photo by Sang An for Chronicle Books

Have you ever experimented with a recipe that turned out so well that you can’t quite believe you made it? This is one of those. I made this simple cake on a brisk day in January a few years ago, while testing recipe for The Glorious Vegetables of Italy. As the cake baked, it filled the kitchen with the warm scent of Marsala and citrus, so that even before I tasted it I had a feeling it would be more than the sum of its parts. This cake has a lovely tender crumb thanks to the olive oil and grated carrots in the batter. It is typical of an Italian home dessert, not at all fancy; a good companion to an afternoon espresso or hot tea.

CARROT POLENTA CAKE WITH MARSALA
(from The Glorious Vegetables of Italy)
Makes one 8-inch cake, to serve 8

Ingredients
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (buttery rather than strong in flavor), plus more to coat the pan
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
1/2 cup dry Marsala
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 large)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Instructions
1. Heat the oven to 375 F.

2. Lightly coat an 8-inch square or round baking pan with oil and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup oil, sugar, eggs, lemon and orange zest, and Marsala until well blended (the sugar will not all dissolve).

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sea salt, and nutmeg. Pour the flour mixture into the egg mixture, whisking all the while to avoid lumps. Using a silicon spatula or wooden spoon, mix in the shredded carrots. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan.

4. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and set it on the rack to cool to room temperature. Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar right before serving.