Lemon polenta cake

This is a pleasing gluten-free cake from Rose Carrarini’s Rose Bakery cookbook.

The recipe actually mentions 15x8cm loaf tins, then says “butter eight individual tins and line the bases with parchment…” (as, it says, using big tins makes the baking tricky and the cake liable to sinking in the centre). Not sure why home users would want eight not-that-little cakes – one each maybe? And some over?

So, I did half quantities, baked in two medium sized loaf tins and increased the baking time by 10 mins.

Preheat oven to 150C (fan) or 160.

250g butter
225g caster sugar
grated zest of two lemons
juice of half a lemon
1/2 t vanilla essence
3 eggs
275g ground almonds
110g polenta
50g rice flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Beat together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Beat in the vanilla and lemon – zest and juice.
Combine all the dry ingredients then folder them into the beaten mixture.
Put in prepared loaf tins.
Bake for 50 mins, until skewer comes out clean.
Cool in their tins.

Dredge with icing sugar to serve.

Nice colour, lemony tang, slight crunch from the polenta, moist from the ground almonds.