Lemon Polenta Cake

I found the original version of this cake recipe years ago in a newspaper, but I  have made several alterations to it and it’s now quite different.  The original recipe was for a gluten free cake, using polenta and ground almonds, and that made a dense, somewhat heavy cake that wasn’t quite to our taste. I introduced some flour into the mix and changed the proportions of almonds and polenta. This makes a considerably lighter version of the cake, much more to our liking. If you still wish to make a gluten free version of my cake, just replace the flour with gluten free flour and make sure that the baking powder you use is also gluten free (I find that Dove’s Farm gluten free products give a great result).

Ingredients:

225g of softened butter

225g of caster sugar

225g of polenta

60g of self raising flour

60g of ground almonds

1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder

3 large free range eggs

the zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Once again I’m using the all-in-one method of mixing the cake and the addition of a spoonful of baking powder to the mix helps to ensure a good rise.

You will need an 8″/20cm cake tin, lined with a double layer of baking parchment. The cake is in the oven for quite a long time and this extra layer of lining helps to prevent the sides and bottom of the cake from getting too brown.

• preheat the oven to 180°C
• place all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl (or food mixer) and beat everything together until the mixture is smooth and creamy. The mixture will be quite wet – this is nothing to worry about!
• pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake it for about 1 hour, or until quite firm in the centre

• this cake tends to brown more than a cake usually would as it is in the oven for longer. To check whether the cake is cooked, push a skewer gently into the centre  of the cake – this should come out dry and not have wet mixture sticking to it

• take the cake from the oven and leave it in the tin until completely cooled.
• remove the cake from the tin and peel off the baking parchment

This moist and crumbly cake is delicious just as it is, but is a special treat when served with a scattering of fresh raspberries. A dusting of icing sugar would finish it off nicely!