This cake is inspired by Nigella’s Lemon Polenta Cake and I’m thrilled to be able to convert it to make it Thermomix friendly. Nigella says that this cake is “a contender for teatime comfort and a supper-party celebration alike, ” and I wholeheartedly agree… It’s lovely, lemony and gluten-free; lusciously lemonicious! It’s super sweet and uber moist with the syrup, you can easily get away with halving the sugar and juice and you’ll still be left with a cracking cake!
Ingredients
200g soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
200g raw sugar
200g almonds
100g fine polenta
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder (gluten-free if required)
3 eggs
zest 2 lemons (save the juice for the syrup, below)
FOR THE SYRUP
6og lemon juice
120g raw sugar
How to
- Line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides lightly with butter.
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C fan forced.
- Grate the lemon rind in TM bowl and grate for 15-20 seconds on speed 8. Set aside.
- Add the almonds to the TM bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 7. Add the polenta and baking powder to TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
- Add sugar to the TM bowl and mill for 7 seconds on speed 9.
- Add the butter and and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.
- Insert the butterfly and mix for 1 minute 30 seconds on speed 4, scraping down sides of bowl half way through. Remove butterfly.
- With the motor running on speed 5 add a little of the polenta/almond mixture , followed by an egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, this will take about 60 – 90 seconds.
- Add the lemon rind and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5. Use the spatula to put the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.
- Don’t worry if the cake seems a bit wobbly. You’ll know it’s ready when a cake tester comes out not really clean but nearly clean. Most importantly, the the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
- Carefully remove the cake from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack, but leave it in it’s tin.
- Mill the sugar to icing sugar for 10 seconds on speed 9. Add the lemon juice to the TM bowl and cook for 3 minutes at 80C on speed soft.
- Prick the top of a cake all over with a cake tester. Pour the warm syrup over the cake. Then leave it to cool before taking it out of the tin.
TIP! This cake freezes really well too. Freeze it on the baking paper, wrapped in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and a layer of foil for up to one month. Simply thaw at room temperature for 3 or 4 hours, and devour!
