Gluten-free citrus polenta cake

Serves 8

Ingredients

• ​2 oranges
• 1 lemon
• 180g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp baking powder 
• 120g butter 
• 150g ground almonds 
• 75g instant polenta 
• Orange blossom water,  as needed
• 2tbsp Tahini 
• 3tbsp honey 
• Pinch of salt 
• Thyme, to garnish
• Greek yoghurt, to garnish

Method

1. An hour before you start making the cake, place the orange in a pot full of water so that it is covered. Leave to boil for around one hour or until it feels soft.
2. Once done, remove it from the heat but do not discard the water, allow to cool a little and then cut it into 6 pieces, remove the pips and blend in a liquidizer until you obtain a relatively smooth puree.
3. Preheat the oven to 190 C and prepare the baking tin by rubbing the inside with extra butter and lining it with baking paper.
4. In a mixing bowl beat 120g of the sugar and butter for 5 minutes until they turn a paler colour. Add in one egg at a time and beat until fully incorporated.
5. Stir in the orange puree and around 8 drops of orange blossom water.
6. Pour in the ground almonds, polenta, a pinch of salt, the baking powder and the zest of the lemon. Mix thoroughly until homogenous.
7. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes or until well risen and a skewer comes out clean.
8. In the meantime make the syrup by pouring 200ml of the water that you used to boil the orange into a small pot. Add the remaining 50g sugar, 5 drops of orange blossom water, 1 tablespoon honey and the juice of the second orange. Boil for 5 minutes untill the sugar has dissolved and it becomes a little more viscous.
9. Once the cake is done, remove from the oven and when still hot pour over the syrup.
10. In a small bowl combine the tahini and the honey. When the cake has cooled spread the top with the honey and tahini mix and scatter over thyme leaves.
11. Serve with the greek yoghurt.

This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, May 2019 

Watch the full episode below: