![Pastries & Desserts | The Leftovers Cake with Apples and Polenta [cover]](https://appetibilis.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pastries-Desserts-Leftovers-Cake-Apples-and-Polenta-cover.jpg)
Check this Leftovers Cake: Gluten-Free with Apples & Polenta… Happy Times!
Welcome to our plant-based recipes collection – the fruit (veggies and desserts) of the collaboration between ottimoblog.com and appetibilis.net | Here happily edited and translated by Orsola 😀
Polenta taragna, chickpea flour, apples & co. a plant-based, leftovers cake (or torte), that’s also gluten-free… Hurray to zero-waste!
Since I’m about to take off to one of my events, I’m using up everything I’ve got in the pantry that’s kind of reaching its expiration date.
Between those ingredients I got an open pack of polenta taragna [po-lèn-ta ta-rà-nya] – a mix of corn and buckwheat flour – staring at me from the cupboard, together with some apples.
I really didn’t feel like cooking polenta in its savory, traditional way… even though, during cold seasons, a dish of smoking polenta (with mushrooms) is always a good idea!
Reflecting on the creative use of leftovers – to make a seasonal and gluten-free cake – that’s when I remembered about my restaurant life. Yes, I owned a plant-based restaurant in Rome at one time, where I was serving a mean apple pie, that was very popular – made with buckwheat flour, paired with a vanilla custard.
In this case, I thought of a polenta taragna cake, to pair with a bit of lavender-scented almond milk custard, that I had in the fridge.
“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness”
Jane Austen
Recipe for the Leftovers Cake: Gluten-Free Apple & Polenta
So, here is the recipe for a super easy, gluten-free “leftovers cake” with little sugar and suitable for breakfast, snack time and for those moments when you’re craving something comforting and delicious… 🤤 Oh yeah!
![Pastries & Desserts | The Leftovers Cake with Apples and Polenta (is ready for baking) | [Recipe card]](https://i0.wp.com/appetibilis.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pastries-Desserts-Leftovers-Cake-Apples-and-Polenta-Recipe-card.jpg?resize=900%2C675&ssl=1)
[servings: 8 | time: 1 h 45 min (30 min prepping | 30 min resting | 40 to 50 min baking) | difficulty: medium]
*| Please note that the info and directions provided for the recipe are indicative: the end result may vary from person to person |*
Ingredients
- 50 g oil (*) neutral flavor
- 100 g brown cane sugar (or maple syrup)
- 300 g water
- 220 g polenta taragna
- 80 g cornstarch
- 30 g chickpea flour
- 1 sachet baking powder (cream of tartar)
- 4 small apples (to fill a medium-small bowl)
- 1/2 lemon (the juice)
- cinnamon to taste
About the oil (*) – Unless otherwise specified, we use organic and cold-pressed evo oil, or sunflower seed oil (the high-oleic type for frying).
Tools
- Round baking pan (22 cm)
- baking paper
- spatulas
- mixing bowls
- kitchen scale (with grams too)
![Pastries & Desserts | The Leftovers Cake with Apples and Polenta [collage banner]](https://i0.wp.com/appetibilis.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Pastries-Desserts-Leftovers-Cake-Apples-and-Polenta-banner.jpg?resize=900%2C300&ssl=1)
Directions
- Turn on the oven at 170 °C (static).
- Prepare the baking pan by lining it with baking paper
- Alternatively, spread it with a little oil and flour (a bit of chickpea flour).
- Slice the apples fairly thinly, drizzle the chunks with the lemon juice and add the cinnamon (to your taste). Set aside and move on to preparing the dough.
- In a boule, with the help of a whisk, mix the oil with water, and sugar.
- Then, start adding polenta, cornstarch and chickpea flour and mix well. (It will turn out lightly creamy).
- Now it’s time to let the batter rest a bit – half an hour to an hour, should be great – so that the dry ingredients have time to absorb the liquids.
- No time? No problem, go ahead and add the baking powder.
- Pour the mixture into the baking pan and place the apples on it. Do not worry too much about the arrangement, they are going to sink a bit anyway.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160 °C and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.
- Let it rest around 30 minutes before first serving.
Polenta taragna is quite heavy and tends to settle down when baking, so the bottom part was a bit spongy dense, with apples on top. In any case, I really liked it this way, and it was so easy to make … Cheers to simplicity!
Interesting Links
Qui la ricetta in italiano delle Mele & Co. Torta di recupero… Senza glutine!
For a savory version, check this gorgeous Polentine (Mini Cakes) with Sautéed Mushrooms
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