Orange Polenta Cake with Mascarpone Dolce and Orange Sauce

Okay, I am testing citrus and yogurt cake recipes lately, if you can't tell . . .  The basic recipe here is from the Silver Spoon Cookbook, a recent acquisition of mine.  The entire cookbook, the cookbook for Italian housewives, (over 2,000 recipes) is very practical, and it validates some of my "desperate pantry-themed" recipes, such as tuna with pasta, and a future post of "pasta with capers and other things from cans and tins."  It's a steal at $40 (only $25 on Amazon), and I would especially recommend it for those who like straightforward recipes without a lot of fussing and ingredient lists until 20 items.

This cake comes together in no time flat and doesn't even involve getting a mixer out.  It makes a nice breakfast or a light dessert for someone who doesn't want something super heavy or sweet.  I discovered mascarpone dolce at Trader Joe's the other day, a delicious blend of mascarpone (Italian cream cheese) and caramel sauce.  I imagine you could make it by blending 8 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese or mascarpone with 2 ounces caramel sauce.

For the cake - serves about 8

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp orange juice

5 tbsp neutral oil, such as grape seed

pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray an 8" cake pan with baking cooking spray with flour and set aside (or coat with butter or oil, then flour the inside of the pan and shake out the excess).  Combine  the ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine thoroughly (yes, it's that easy).  The mixture is very stiff; you can add a little more orange juice to thin it out if you'd like.  Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Serve with jam, or with mascarpone dolce and orange sauce.

For the Orange Sauce:

1 cup orange juice

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup orange liqueur

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp corn starch

2 tbsp water

Combine the orange juice, liqueur, and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil.  While boiling, combine the corn starch with the water and stir to melt the starch.  Stir this into the orange juice and bring back to a rolling boil.  Allow to boil for another 2-3 minutes, until it thickens.  Pour over cake and enjoy!