A Homemade Valentine's Day

Last year, Alex and I were in Paris for Valentine’s Day, strolling arm in arm through Montmartre as we lunched on crepes and pan au chocolat. This year, having already gone on our annual adventure (to the Caribbean!), we knew it would be low-key. However, despite my plans to do nothing, Alex insisted we make each other a gourmet meal, and that was hard to turn down. In a nice role reversal (that turned into some baking catastrophes for me), Alex took on dinner and I took on dessert.

Craving something spicy, romantic, and succulent, we selected a puttanesca sauce based on a Jamie Oliver recipe, ripe with crushed red chilies, fresh olives, and tart capers. We simply made both normal and gluten-free pasta so we could both enjoy the main dish (and doubled the recipe for plenty of leftovers--note the reused mason jar of deliciousness below).

Puttanesca Sauce (minus the anchovies)
EVOO to coat the pan
2 cloves of garlic
2 handfuls black and/or kalamata olives, pitted and halved
½ a jar of capers, drained
2 dried chili peppers, crushed
½ tsp. dried oregano
1 (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper, to taste
Large handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Drizzle of EVOO to top off each portion

Heat the EVOO in a large saucepan, then saute the garlic through oregano for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and toss in the basil, stir and drizzle with olive oil. The salty, sexy olives just burst in your mouth, and the spicy tomato base makes this a delicious romantic meal. The handfuls of freshly torn basil leaves tossed in at the end bring a light finishing flavor to the rich sauce (which we quickly cleaned from our plates). A simple spinach and goat cheese salad balanced our meal and prepped us for the richness of dessert.

In keeping with the rustic Italian theme, I found a recipe from the Ottolenghi cookbook(in Gourmet Magazine) for an orange polenta cake that uses almonds and polenta as the main flours. With a minor substitution of ½ GF flour for all-purpose wheat flour, I easily adapted it to be gluten free and just as delicious. The rustic quality of the flours and polenta combined with the heady flavors of orange and almond make it a perfect mid-winter treat.

The cake is layered with first a rich caramel, then juicy slices of navel oranges, then the batter (it comes out like an upside-down cake). Once it is cooked and inverted, you drizzle a marmalade glaze over the top which seeps in, infusing every bite with a moist orange flavor. To top it off, Alex made fresh whipped cream with orange extract, and we served a bit of glaze on the plates. It was phenomenal, if a bit of a sugar overload. This morning, we had slices for breakfast, and it was a perfect scone-like delicacy. Definitely a make-again, especially for brunch or an elegant tea time (which I've never had, but which I'm sure some people put on).

Orange Polenta Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9” cake pan and line it with parchment paper.

For the caramel layer, simmer together in a small saucepan:
½ cup superfine sugar (process granulated sugar for a minute or so)
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut to bits
2 oranges, zest reserved for cake batter, sliced horizontally (peel and pith cut off)

Simmer the sugar and water together over med-hi heat, swirling and washing down any sugar crystals that form on the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water. It will take a few minutes before the sugar dissolves and the mixture colors amber, but watch it carefully (my first batch burned and I had to start all over, what a waste!) When the mixture turns to caramel, remove from the heat and add the butter and swirl to combine.

Quickly and carefully pour into the prepared pan and tilt to coat the bottom. Spread orange slices in concentric circles across the caramel layer. This will be the top of the cake, so arrange them carefully for a nice design.

For the cake:
1 ¾ sticks butter, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
3 eggs
zest of both oranges
1 tsp. orange extract (or 2 tsp. orange flower water)
½ cup all purpose (GF) flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt.
2 cups of ground almonds (I put raw almonds in the food processor so they were still a bit coarse, which worked well with the texture of the polenta)
2/3 cup quick-cooking polenta

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well mixed. Add the orange zest and the orange extract. Whisk together in a dry bowl the flour, baking powder, and salt. At a low speed, add the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture. Blend in the ground almonds and the polenta to just combine.

Spread batter evenly over the orange slices in the cake pan and bake until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean and the top is golden, 1- 1¼ hours. Let cool 5 minutes and then invert onto a cake plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

For the glaze, melt in a small saucepan:
¼ cup orange marmalade
2 Tbsp. water.
Drizzle a bit over the top and sides of the cake. It’s pretty sweet, so go easy if you don’t want a very sugary dessert. You could also cut back on the sugar in the cake, if needed. A tart marmalade would work really well too.

For the orange whipped cream, mix on hi:
Whipping cream, powdered sugar, and orange extract, to taste.

It was a perfect, if gluttonous Valentine's Day, enhanced by the joy of selecting and preparing our meal together, and savoring each bite without the hectic or hurried atmosphere of a NYC restaurant. Although I believe it's silly for Americans to focus on only one day each year to be romantic, I did enjoy our celebration and look forward to many other weekend nights where we can take time out to share our joys (and food).

(Beneath the Arc du Triomphe 2/14/08)