The 5-Ingredient Martha Stewart Dessert I’ve Been Making for Over 20 Years

Within the late ’90s, I took a giant leap and began a non-public chef enterprise. Immediately folks had been reserving me to cater events, and I wanted stable, spectacular dishes that didn’t take too lengthy to make.

Martha Stewart was the reigning Queen of upscale, aspirational meals, so I combed by The Martha Stewart Cookbook on the lookout for recipes that had been easy, however nonetheless fancy sufficient to impress.

Her Italian Cornmeal Cake virtually jumped off the web page to save lots of the day. Made fully within the meals processor, the cake couldn’t be less complicated—no eggs to beat, no folding, no sifting. 

Within the headnote, Martha describes the cake as “crumbly,” and it’s. In truth, it’s nearly like a shortbread. There isn’t any leavening or salt in her recipe, so it doesn’t have an open crumb, only a dense, crunchy texture. Like many conventional Italian desserts, there’s simply sufficient sugar within the cake to provide it a touch of sweetness.

How To Make Martha Stewart’s Italian Cornmeal Cake

To make Martha’s cornmeal cake, you may want:

• 1 cup (125 grams) almond flour or 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup wonderful yellow cornmeal (not polenta)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 stick chilly salted butter, minimize into items, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan

Use a tablespoon of butter to grease a 10-inch springform pan, going solely a half inch up the perimeters.

Add the almond flour to a meals processor or grind the slivered almonds till very, very wonderful, stopping each every so often to scrape down the perimeters of the bowl. 

Add the cornmeal and pulse just a few occasions to mix it with the almond flour. Then add the sugar and all-purpose flour and course of once more for a number of seconds to combine the substances nicely. 

Toss within the butter and course of, stopping to scrape down the bowl after just a few seconds. The dough will begin to kind clumps. Cease the machine and take a look at squeezing the dough. If it holds collectively it is prepared.

Scrape the dough into the ready pan and pat it evenly to the perimeters. It must be a good disk so it bakes uniformly. Chill the dough for 20 minutes. In the meantime, set an oven rack within the middle of the oven and preheat it to 400°F.

Bake the cake for 25 to half-hour. The sides and prime of the cake shall be golden brown. Cool the cake on a rack, then loosen the perimeters with a skinny steel spatula and invert the cake onto a reducing board. Use a chef’s knife to chop it into 12 wedges.

Ideas for Making Martha’s Italian Cornmeal Cake

After making this cake for over 20 years, I’ve discovered just a few tweaks. The unique recipe referred to as for grinding almonds into almond flour, however I want to make use of store-bought almond flour as a result of it’s tough to grind almonds as finely as they should be.

I additionally pat the dough within the pan after which chill it for 20 minutes to make the butter stable once more and place my leaky springform on a sheet pan in case a bit of butter seeps out throughout baking.

The simplicity of this cake is a factor of magnificence. If you wish to add a splash of vanilla, a pair teaspoons of lemon zest, or chopped contemporary rosemary you completely can. I’ve even made this cake vegan with plant-based butter.

This cake shines when served with scoops of ice cream and spoonfuls of sweetened fruit, with mint sprigs or lemon zest curls as ending touches. It really works in all seasons and is simply as suitable with spring raspberries as it’s with winter citrus or pears.

Regardless that that is technically a cake, you’ll be able to deal with it like a cookie as nicely. For a cookie platter, you may gown up wedges with a drizzle of melted chocolate, or a dead-easy glaze of lemon juice and powdered sugar. 

All hail Martha!