03 February 2011

Lemon, almond and polenta cake

This cake is so easy, and so great if you are baking for someone on a gluten free diet but don't have gluten free flour. I happened to have polenta in my cupboard and plenty of ground almonds - something I regularly stock up on in the supermarket as well as an abundance of lemons. This cake also includes the juice of some tangelos from my mother in laws tree. The combination of all is so great. Especially served with a plain yogurt.



Lemon, almond and polenta cake

250g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 lemons (enough to make 1/2 cup lemon juice)
3 eggs, separated
2 drops almond essence
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
150g ground almonds
1 cup fine polenta

Cream butter, lemon rind, sugar, vanilla, almond essence together. Add egg yolks slowly.
Add ground almonds, polenta and 1/4 cup lemon juice and mix.
Whip egg whites to soft peaks and slowly fold into cake mix.
Bake 160 deg C in LINED springform tin. Baking paper is so under rated. You'll need it for this cake.
Bake for 60 mins or until skewer comes out clean.
Combine 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup caster sugar and heat till sugar dissolves. Pour onto hot cake.
Serve when cold with natural unsweetened yogurt.

And enjoy!


19 comments:

Leonie said...

Oh Mon, I love you! When I read about it on FB I thought, wow, that sounds great and you've shared the recipe!! eeek!! so excited. My fave ingredients. Cant wait to try it!

Simoney said...

This is truly the BEST cake in the world. I know cos Mon made me some. YUM YUM YUM! Thanks for the recipe it's getting bookmarked!

Widge said...

I'm been day dreaming of this cake since you guys posted about it. Off to get me some polenta and ground almonds....

Sammy said...

YUM! I will be making this in 19 days time.....begone Daniel Fast!

jacksta said...

That cake looks so tasty. I dont stock any of those ingredients but I will! Now....to find a gluten free person to have over for coffee....

Kiwicakes said...

I love polentaalmond cake, will have to give this a go

jacksta said...

I have an idea! Since you are the resident baking expert maybe you could post one of your cool recipes. And then we all give it ago, take pics and post it back to your post using one of those linky things? Like Paisley has for "things im loving" http://www.mcklinky.com/

Johnny said...

Oooh Jacksta do you think people would do it? Would be so cool!

jacksta said...

Totally! It would be something a little different...You are one of NZ hottest bakers you know!

Lisa said...

Wow, looking at your pictures is almost (almost) as good as actually eating it. I have a sweet treaty linky on my blog every weekend called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by then and link your cake up.

PaisleyJade said...

So glad you posted this - have been dreaming about it ever since Simoney posted it on her blog! Loving Jackies idea too - Mmmmmmm! You rock.

Anonymous said...

Wow!! How delicious! I have just been diagnosed with coeliac disease and was wondering how I'm going to manage to eat cakes etc. This cake is fantastic.
I LOVE IT. Thanks for the recipe.

Johnny said...

You are welcome Anon. This cake is a great base to use with other flavours than lemon. You could try raspberries too for a change as a lot of gluten free recipes have citrus, which is great but you can get sick of it!

Sarah Gauntlett said...

hey I'm so glad to find this after seeing it on Simone's blog... do you think I could get away with baking it in a regular cake tin with baking paper etc and not a springform pan? i don't have one dammit and would love to make this for my gluten free dad on Thurs!.. Maybe if I waited for it to cool before getting it out? thanks!!

Johnny said...

Hi Sarah,

Yes absolutely it will. It does stick a bit at the bottom so make sure you line it or grease it well, and then it should pull out after being completely cooled totally fine! Good luck, can't wait to see how it looks!

Sarah Gauntlett said...

thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this recipe. Made it last night for a mid winter dinner party where my friend is GF. Everyone really loved it. However, I used medium grain polenta instread of fine grain (as my supermarket didn't have any other) and a few people did comment that the texture was unusual. I've never used polenta in cooking before and am curious as to what it will be like with fine polenta instead. I'll have to source some and make it again!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I tried your cake yesterday and wanted to let you know it was pretty good. I did it with orange juice and zest. Thanks for sharing the recipe !

Johnny said...

Hi atdownunder - thanks for letting me know. I can imagine it would be delicious with orange. I'm also keen to see how lime would taste too.
I just checked out your blog...I LOVE your photography so much!!