Dee Freney has shared a range of gluten-free recipes in the Today Show Home Cook competition, and this lemony cake is another delight.
Ingredients
- 225g unsalted butter (softened)
- 225g caster sugar
- 165g ground almonds
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 3 large eggs
- 110g polenta
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the syrup:
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 100 grams icing sugar
For the blueberry sauce:
- 125g fresh or frozen blueberries
- 50 ml water
- 50g granulated sugar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Method
To make the cake:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/gas mark 4/ 350°F.
2. Line the base of a 21cm springform cake tin with baking parchment and grease its sides lightly with butter.
3. Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, using an electric hand whisk.
4. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients – ground almond, polenta and baking powder together until well combined.
5. To the butter and sugar mix alternate adding one egg, then some of the dry ingredients mixing well until all ingredients are combined.
6. Finally, add in the lemon zest and mix well, spoon or scrape the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
7. In a saucepan add the syrup ingredients and bring to the boil, gently pierce holes in the cake and pour the syrup over the cake. When the cake is cool dust with icing sugar.
Tip:
Polenta is naturally gluten free; however not all polenta is 100% safe for coeliacs due to cross contamination, and the addition of some preservatives so always look for the cross-grain symbol on your packaging.
To make the blueberry sauce:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, water, sugar and lemon juice. Stir frequently bringing to a low boil.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with water.
3. Slowly stir the cornstarch into the blueberries, taking care not to crush the blueberries. Simmer until the blueberry sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and gently stir in vanilla.
Tip:
Blueberry sauce freezes very well and makes a gorgeous topping for pancakes
