So I was watching Next Gen Chef on Netflix and there was one contestant, Abby, who made a recipe very similar to this one for the first challenge, where the contestants had to work in teams to make a progressive tasting menu inspired by one of three famous CIA alumnus. Abby tackled the dessert making a polenta cake with fennel curd and Swiss meringue buttercream. Truthfully, it looked pretty, but I have a personal stance against using buttercream in plated desserts, preferring it only for cupcakes and layer cakes. This is because buttercream, being straight up butter, sugar, and maybe some kind of egg, is very heavy, and hard to balance against in a plated dessert. I prefer using actual cream or ice cream, which are lighter and more palatable. I’m no buttercream hater by any means, I just think there’s a time and place for it. Despite my opinions on it, Abby’s cake was well received, from the presentation to the execution all getting good marks from the judges. From how Abby described dessert, she used polenta(corn meal) and buckwheat flours in the cake batter, and served that with a yuzu-fennel curd, a Swiss meringue buttercream, candied fennel seed, and it looked like a snap dragon flower(I might be wrong there) as another garnish. She arranged it to look like a flower with the buttercream and the curd dotted in the middle. It was dainty and pretty. For those reasons, I figured I would tackle it, but as a layer cake. I omitted the candied fennel seeds because I had fennel pollen on hand and the edible flower because I could not get ahold of the ones she used, but I kept the recipe of the recipe fairly faithful to what she described, but adding a yuzu soak to keep the cake from drying out, and using yuzu inspiration(yuzu-flavored cocoa butter) to thicken my yuzu-fennel curd, since getting fresh yuzu in the States can be tricky.

Makes one 6-inch layer cake, or 6-8 servings:
For the olive oil-polenta cake:
1 cup polenta, ground into a fine powder
1/2 cup barley flour
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups olive oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs

In a bowl, mix everything together to form your batter. Pour the batter into a parchment-lined quarter sheet tray and spread into an even layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes. Allow the cake to cool before cutting into 3 6-inch rounds, using the scraps as necessary.

For the yuzu-fennel curd:
1/4 tsp fennel pollen
1 tsp cornstarch
1 egg yolk
a pinch of salt
2oz yuzu juice
1/4 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
2oz yuzu inspiration
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, whisk together fennel pollen, cornstarch, egg yolk, and salt. In a pot, heat up the yuzu juice and gelatin until the gelatin fully melts into the juice. Pour half of the mixture the egg, then whisk. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot, and add the yuzu inspiration. Stir everything on medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the butter and once the butter is melted into the mixture, pass through a sieve to remove any lumps. Fold in the vanilla and transfer to a small bowl. Place cling wrap on top and refrigerate for 10-20 minutes. Prior to assembly, beat with a rubber spatula until smooth and spreadable.

For the Swiss meringue buttercream:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature

Over a double boiler, whisk the egg whites, sugar, and salt until the egg whites are frothy and the sugar is fully dissolved. Transfer the egg whites to a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whip to stiff peaks. At this point, whisk in the vanilla and the butter, and keep whipping everything until a smooth, creamy consistency is reached – you will see the mixture separate at first before coming together, so do not panic if the buttercream looks chunky at first, just keep whisking. Keep the buttercream at room temperature for easier assembly.

For the soak:
1 cup whole milk
1 tbsp yuzu juice
a pinch of salt

Mix everything together.

For assembly:
Fennel pollen
Golden pearl sprinkles

Start by placing down the scrap layer of your cake and add 1/3 of the soak. Pipe a border of the buttercream around the cake, and spread 2 tbsp of the curd inside. Place down the next round of cake and repeat those steps. For the third round, start with the soak, then spread more buttercream on top and around the cake, just enough to coat the cakes, but not enough to cover them as we want a more naked cake-aesthetic. With any spare curd and buttercream, pipe 5-petal flower patterns on top of the cake using the buttercream and a piping bag with a leaf tip, and dot curd inside of each flower. Finish the cake with a light dusting of fennel pollen and golden pearl sprinkles on top.