With the last of my blackberries in mind, I took inspiration from The Kitchen Sink Recipes and decided to make her Tart Cherry-Cornmeal Quick Bread. What sold me on that recipe was the use of cornmeal. I love the crunch and sweetness it brings to whatever it’s added to. I did have one little problem.
Whole grain cornmeal is not a high demand item. As a matter of fact I don’t think it’s in demand at all as none of my local Publix Grocery Stores carried it. I even checked my local health store. I eventually found some organic polenta that I thought might work. I’m not certain what the difference is between polenta and and cornmeal, but by now I WANTED that quick bread. Again I’m not certain how much the polenta changed the taste and texture of my quick bread, but I was pleased with it. Just as I knew I would I loved the crunch it added to my quick bread, it was reminiscent of corn bread but better. My daughter loved this. I caught her cutting herself a slice after I had already given her one.
This wasn’t a hit with the Twins. They took one bite and handed Babygirl and me their slices. I don’t think this recipe is for everyone. Those of you who don’t like cornmeal or cornbread will probably not care for this recipe; but those of you that do, I would definitely recommend it.
See that photo above. Notice anything? Yup, once again my blackberries sunk. I followed your (and the recipe’s) advice and floured the blackberries before adding them. I also took it a step further and instead of folding them into my batter, I gently placed them on top of the batter once it was in the pan. No luck! :( They still sunk.
Tart Cherry-Cornmeal Quick Bread AKA Blackberry Polenta Loaf
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup cornmeal (polenta)*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup tart cherries, stems and pits removed (blackberries)
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg whites, buttermilk, sour cream and extract; mix until combined.
In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, and salt. Add all but a tablespoon or so of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, with the mixer running at low speed; mix until just combined.
Toss the cherries in the reserved dry ingredients. Gently fold the cherries into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the loaf to a rack and cool completely.
*Check out this guest post on HoneyB’s blog, The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s HoneyBunch. Her guest blogger Haley made and blogged about making Blackberry Polenta Muffins (YUM!). In her post she advises soaking the polenta overnight in whatever liquid your recipe calls for. For more info check out the post.
32 comments:
Ingrid, I love fruit loaf cakes!! Hmmm you've done what I would have, to wash and dry the berries and flour them, so not sure why they have sunk??? Mind you, it still is one mighty fine delicious loaf cake!
An interesting combination! This cake looks really wonderful!
Cheers,
Rosa
Sorry your berries sank!! But the one blackberry peeping through in the corner looks very nice!! I thought you did it on purpose :P
I really like the cornmeal usage, and the blackberries at the bottom! maybe they are just sinkers and not floaters...maybe they are too darn big but they look lovely!!
It's clearly a polenta day. I'm baking a polenta cake as I write this! Oh, there's no difference between cornmeal and polenta - it's just two different names for the same thing.
i love how the berries made their way to the bottom. i'd start at the top of my slab and nibble my way down to them. :)
If tossing your berries in flour didn't work, I wouldn't even give it a second thought. As long as it tasted great, who cares? It's pretty with those big pockets of berry along the bottom.
Is Baby Girl a cheerleader? HOW CUTE!
Polenta loaf? :) Great minds think alike, I posted savory purple polenta today! Looks good, I love most all types of cornbread!
Yum, yum! I love how the berries just rest at the bottom. It looks delicious!
There's no difference that I know of between polenta and cornmeal - but their are different cuts - sizes of grain. I love polenta - this looks so delicious with the blackberries in it!
What a cool idea to use polenta, it looks so delicious with those yummy blackberries!
Sounds yummy, Ingrid. I just made a blueberry cornmeal muffin that I enjoyed, but only 2/4 of mine (kids)liked it and 4/8 ours(kids) total. I guess you have to be a total cornbread fan. Both adults enjoyed.
never had blackberries...I'm curious,how does it taste like?
We love corn bread in this house, so maybe this would be a good one for us...the blackberries look good at the bottom ;)
Aside from some pretty terrible Weight Watchers biscotti, I've never made much with corn flour or polenta. It's strange because I love the texture of corn bread. You've inspired me to try making something corny. (giggle)
Oooh this looks good. I want a slice slathered with a little salted butter please!
I'm not sure why your berries sunk, though I don't think it's anything you did. Maybe they're just really heavy. The only other thing I would suggest is to bake the cake without the berries then about 10-25 minutes into the baking time toss them on top. But I don't you don't have time for that :-)
Ingrid..I am a HUGE cornbread fan and this sounds and looks fantastic!! Can't wait to try this one!
I'm a cornbread fan as well. Berries make it better!
I LOVE desserts with cornmeal - and I think there is nothing wrong with sinking fruit - it's like finding a treasure on the bottom of a gorgeous dessert!
Well just reading the comments I learned something today, no difference between cornmeal and polenta! I didn't know that!! I love cornmeal Ingrid, I ve never baked a cake or anything but cornbread with it but now I want to! This looks terrific!
Even if they did sink they look gorgeous! I bet it was wonderful:)
Ingrid, if you haven't already, we'd love to have you join the Food Bloggers discussion list! You can join here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/foodblogs/ or via email by sending a message to foodblogs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Hope to see you there! All food bloggers are welcome!
I'm posting a cake next week with blackberries in it - they sunk, too, after being floured. BUMMER.
But regardless it tasted good - as I'm sure yours did!
Thanks for the link love Ingrid! The bread looks yummy!
I love fruit loaf cakes, and I love cornmeal in all its forms, so I would say yes please, pass another slice. Fruit always sinks! The only way I have ever been able to avoid this is to add the fruit after baking for 5 minutes -- batter firms up and the fruit doesn't sink as much. Depends, of course, on how sturdy the dough is and whether it will suffer being pulled out of the oven mid-baking.
I actually like the look of the sunken berries! I love corn bread, so this looks delicious!
I love cornmeal in sweet dishes like this. I have to try this one!
I love the idea of using polenta. It sounds delicious.
I love cornmeal so this is right up my alley! :)
I am thinking I would love this as I love everything corn! Babygirl has good taste!
Aww... sorry to hear about the blueberries. They still look good though. :)
Is polenta just the same as cornbread? Sorry! So clueless about these baking terms.
Funny, I was just on the phone with my cousin talking about not knowing the difference between polenta & cornmeal!
And if it makes you feel better, my fruit sinks too. See here in the Blackberry Cornmeal Cupcakes from Martha's Stewarts Cupcakes book, (which reminds me a LOT of this loaf you just made. I loved the cupcakes, so I bet your loaf was yummy!
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