Polenta Cake question

[PassionateAmateur]

I have a genuine gluten-allergy coming to Thanksgiving, so in addition to my normal pies I'm making a polenta/almond flour cake that I've never tried before (after all, why not make someone my guinea pig on a major holiday?).  The recipe calls for poking baked cake with holes and glazing, but the glaze formula sounds revolting.  I candied kumquats and orange and lemon peel - plan to use the flavored simple to moisten the cake and then pile the rinds on top.  It'll be a 9" round single layer, probably 2 to 2.5" finished height.  Any guesses on how much syrup to use?  I don't want to turn it into pudding!

[Cally]

I think it depends on how many eggs are in the recipe. Or if you are using one of the gums, like xantham or guar guar to stabilize the cake.

 

The more protein in the cake and/or stabilizer you use the sturdier the cake will be and it will be able to hold more syrup. 

 

I wish I could give you better advise, but like all gluten free baking there is a lot of trial and error involved.  I always practice my GF recipes before I serve them to other people.  And if I like the results, then I make sure to use the same name brands because flour blends can be radically different based on manufacturer.

 

If you can't practice ahead of time, maybe just add the syrup in stages to see how much you can add?

 

Good luck, and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

[pastrygirl]

What is their revolting glaze formula?  

 

Start with 1/4 c of syrup and see. A stickier, thicker syrup won’t soak in as much as a thin watery one. 

[PassionateAmateur]

Thanks, Cally and PastryGirl. 

3 eggs in the recipe, to 2 cups almond flour plus 3/4 cup polenta (plus butter, sugar etc, obviously).  I can't remember what horrified me so much about the original glaze formula, unfortunately, and I threw out that page!

[Cally]

It almost seems like there is not enough egg in that recipe. I bet it would be crumbly and very prone to tearing.  I really like the following recipe from King Arthur Flour Company for a flourless almond cake.  It subs a tiny amount of coconut flour for the corn meal, and it completely relies on whipped egg whites for lift, but I've used it a lot and really like it.  If you go with it, I hope you have a good mixer for the egg whites and that you are careful when you fold the whipped egg whites into the rest of the (very stiff) batter.  Also! Don't over bake this recipe.

 

 https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/strawberry-almond-flour-cake-recipe

 

I've doubled this recipe to make a layer cake without too much extra work.

[PassionateAmateur]

This was....interesting.  Not bad, but something I'd play with a bit more to improve.  Recipe was wetter than I expected given the eggs : dry ratio.  Perhaps just because polenta doesn't absorb the way a wheat flour would.  I was in a rush and the pan slipped out of my hand while I was about to flip it to cooling rack, so I can't say whether it would have torn or not under less fraught circumstances -- it certainly broke when it dropped to the countertop on its edge!  Pieced it back together, poked lots of holes, spooned syrup over it until it threatened to start puddling, covered center with candied citrus rinds and piped a sweetened mascarpone cream around the top edge -- effectively hid the major sins.  Flavor was excellent.  Texture -- I think a finer grain of polenta would have been an improvement.

 

At any rate, thanks for the suggestions.

 

Cheers!