Crunchy polenta - help please!

I've got a couple of bags of slightly out of date polenta meal to use up. It isn't something I use normally. So I made a lime and meadowsweet cake based on this recipe , missing out the cheese/lemon curd topping. It tastes nice, a little sweet (it's a cake!) but the texture is still crunchy.

Lemon polenta cake (not mine!)

source

It didn't seem to be underdone (it had more time than the recipe suggests), was firm, juicy and ....crunchy. Is this just a feature of polenta meal? Is there something I can do to make the texture more soft, or chewy? Is it because the meal is on the old side?

Alternatively, can anyone suggest other ways of using up the polenta meal? Anything considered.

Hmm .. I'm wondering if the crunchy bits didn't get enough water to fully hydrate & cook? Maybe more of the water evaporated than the recipe calculated, so some bits were dry?

Using a slow cooker works really well for me. A covered slow cooker prevents the water from evaporating so basically all you do is cook the polenta on low until the water is absorbed and the corn is fully cooked.
Mix 1 cup of polenta with 1/2 t salt and 1/2 t baking soda (for whole grain meal) in the bowl of the slow cooker. Whisk in 2 cups of cold water until smooth. Whisk 2 cups of boiling water into the polenta mixture. Start the slow cooker on high and cook until bubbles form (about 45 min). Whisk again then turn cooker to low setting.
Cook on low until water is absorbed, polenta is tender and the polenta tastes like corn (not paste). Stir occasionally to cook the mixture evenly.
I cook my whole grain, coarse milled, dent corn for a total of 5 hours on low. The slow cooking produces and outstanding porridge: tender and full of rich corn flavor. If your polenta is de-germinated, the time could be much less so taste every hour and experience the flavor transformation.

Serving options:
To the hot polenta, add some butter and cheese, if desired, then top with your favorite pasta topping.
For breakfast, serve the porridge topped with berries, honey and milk.
For a wonderful warm up on a cold day, combine polenta with any kind of milk 1:1 plus maple syrup or honey plus cinnamon to taste. Blend until smooth. Serve hot in a mug. I drink this Mexican inspired “atole” whenever I have some leftover plain polenta. Amazing!

Hmm, thanks both. So it sounds like maybe there should have been a bit more moisture to start with and a lot more cooking. My oven is normally quite moist, it doesn't vent as well as it should, but I could also cover the cake to keep the moisture in, then I don't need to worry about it getting burnt.
I quite fancy trying polenta porrage next time I have the stove on all day. The bottom oven makes quite a good long slow cooker as it doesn't get that hot (mind you, neither is the top oven at the moment!). I don't think my meal will need whisking as it is quite grainy - like granulated sugar.

I make an italian carrot cake with polenta and white wine, and maybe two things happened here with your cake-
1, i use instant (parcooked) polenta-- but i know i've had different "gauge" polenta and if it were not fine i imagine you might need to presoak the polenta before mixing it in the recipe, like in a recipe that uses steel cut oats
2, my recipe has a LOT of liquid. like half a cup of olive oil and a cup of wine and another half a cup of citrus juice, plus all the carrots, it comes out super soft and light

Hi Tereza - thanks! I checked the label on my polenta packet and it just says 'polenta' so I don't think it is processed at all, Ingredients are just maize. It is quite finely ground. Not as fine as cornflour, but probably finer than granulated sugar.
Any chance you could share your recipe? It would be good to have a reliable starting point for next time!

You bet! The recipe is here https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-domenica-marchettis-carrot-polenta-cake-with-marsala-recipes-from-the-kitchn-219390
I can't get marsala and use crummy dry white wine instead, and I cut the olive oil significantly (too pricey), maybe by half (might replace it with grated apple or just more carrots).
Even with all the subs this cake is an absolute marvel and always appreciated wherever I take it-- it's my standard when i need to bring a cake somewhere.
It is definitely more than the sum of its parts! (And if you like nutmeg make sure not to skip it, it really adds an amazing touch.)

Thanks Tereza!
That looks like just the recipe I need at the moment; I have got sad carrots to use up! I like that it doesn't have ground almonds in but just normal flour in addition to the polenta. I may use the juice of the citrus fruit that have been zested and cooking sherry to make up to the volume of liquid.
I'll let you know how it turns out!

it's a real marvel of a cake, people go nuts for it because I always call it carrot cake but it's nothing like any carrot cake they've ever tasted (in fact if you couldn't see the carrots, you'd never know they were there).
note that the recipe mentions the "crunch" of the polenta, even despite calling for a fine grind. If you found it too crunchy before, I'd consider letting it stand in one of the liquids for an hour or two before baking.