Ti Amo

Greek food..

...rocks.

I don't think this Cornmeal Rosemary Cake is considered to be a, Greek festivity, but being Giada De Laurentiis's recipe and seeing she herself is Italian, I combined the two together (our Greek dinner and the cake) and deemed the whole thing as our Mediterranean chow down.

As for the main dish, we did falafal from the package (Near East brand), made some minty-greek yogurt "white sauce", toasted up some tortilla's, shaved some cucumber, and had a garbanzo bean salad with red onion, mint, lemon juice, and olive oil. Excuse me while I go wipe drool off my chin.

I don't know if I've confessed this on public blogging, but......we don't have a television. Dahhh!!!!

I know, I know.....see, when we packed up our loot from Utah over a year ago, our poor Penske had not another inch of free space in it, and the last thing sitting in our living room was our awkward, 1985, 200 lb -television. We didn't have much emotion in leaving it behind-you get why??

Anyways, we never made up for it, having not yet purchased a TV in the absence of it. I admit, it's actually been quite nice to live without one, though I do break down every once in a while for a good 30 minute blurb of anything on the food network.

Strangely enough, I've seen a particular episode three separate times of Giada baking up this cornmeal rosemary cake thingy. Finally deciding it must be fate I try it out, the next day I busted out to the market and picked up some fresh rosemary and confined myself to the kitchen for the hour to bake off this foreign flavored cake.

And boy oh boy am fate had its place. It was quite delicious and flavorful- the rosemary adds a punch to it, the cornmeal adds a good texture, and thank heavens for sour cream. My hubs didn't care too much for the syrup and frankly, the cake doesn't need it and stands great on its own. The syrup adds some snobbery of sophistication, but I am still struggling to have balsamic vinegar anything with my desserts. It's a work in progress, I suppose.

Give this recipe a shot- it's an unusual cake but a fun diversion from the same old, same old.

Honoring those heros, survivors, and fallen in 9/11 today. Happy weekend to you all.

Cornmeal Rosemary Cake with Balsamic Syrup

{Giada De Laurentiis}

1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

For the Balsamic Syrup:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 small sprig fresh rosemary

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the cake:

Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, cake flour, minced rosemary, baking powder, and salt.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, on low speed beat the butter and vanilla together until combined. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Once the sugar is incorporated increase the speed to high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks and eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce the speed to medium and add the sour cream. On low speed add the dry ingredients just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake in the lower third of the oven until the cake is golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool. Transfer the cake from the pan to a serving plate and dust with powdered sugar.
For the Balsamic Syrup:

Place the sugar, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprig and let the syrup cool.

To serve, place a slice of cake on a serving plate; spoon some syrup around the plate.