Lemon Polenta Cake

I would never have thought to add Polenta to a cake, but looking at the ingenuity behind it, it is really no wonder why it originated in Italy. Polenta cake is a light moist cake, most enjoyed in Summer on a hot afternoon with a glug of espresso. You can create this in a jiffy with no more effort than measuring out the ingredients. go with the grain!

Bella's Lemon Polenta Cake

Prep time: 20min  Cook time: 40min  Serves: 8

Ingredients:

For cake:

• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g castor sugar
• 200g ground almonds
• 100g polenta (fine)
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• zest of 3 lemons (save the juice)

For the syryp:

• juice of 3 lemons
• 125g icing sugar (sifted)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line and grease a 23cm springform cake tin. With a free-standing mixer combine the butter and sugar until creamy and pale in colour. In a separate bowl, combine together the almonds, polenta and baking powder, mix well. Combine 1/3 of the mixture into the butter batter, followed by one egg. Do this three times so that all ingredients are combined and your mixture is smooth. Beat in the lemon zest. Pour mixture into prepared cake tin, bake for 40min.

In a saucepan, bring the lemon juice and icing sugar to a boil, allow to thicken before removing from the heat.

When your cake is ready, golden brown, remove from the oven. Poke a few times with a cake tester before adding your syrup.Allow to cool in the tin before removing.

Serve with fresh cream.

Enjoy x x