Orange & polenta cake : A gorgeous gluten-free treat.
This delicious cake is full of zingy flavour and the syrup makes it something really special!
Serves 10-12 (Super easy)
Ingredients
- 200 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 200 g demerara sugar
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 200 g ground almonds
- 100 g coarse polenta
- zest of 2 oranges
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
- crème fraîche or plain yoghurt, to serve
- For the syrup:
- 250 ml orange juice, (from about 3-4 oranges)
- 30 ml orange blossom water
- 5 cardamom pods, crushed
- 125 g golden caster sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/gas 2½. Grease a 20cm springform tin, line the bottom and sides with baking paper and grease again.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy – don’t worry if it looks gritty, as the sugar will dissolve when it’s cooked. Beat in the eggs, one by one, then stir in the vanilla essence.
In a small bowl, combine the ground almonds, polenta, orange zest, orange blossom water and baking powder, then stir this into the cake mix. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40–50 minutes, until the surface is light brown and the cake is coming away slightly from the sides of the tin.
Remove the tin from the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. This cake will be quite moist and a little fragile, so handle carefully as you remove it.
To make the syrup, put all of the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over a low–medium heat until reduced and thickened slightly, it should take about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Prick the cake all over with a skewer, then brush generously with the syrup. Serve in slices with a dollop of crème fraîche or yogurt and an extra drizzle of syrup.
By Jamie Oliver
(Source: jamieoliver.com; October 31, 2016; http://tinyurl.com/ogej7ge)
