Orange Polenta Cake

I've been meaning to make this cake for a long time now and finally got round to it. The polenta gave it a nice fine texture and the orange made it light and refreshing. Definitely a good cake to make for afternoon tea. 

blitzing the oranges 

adding to the batter 

ready to go in the oven 

fresh from the oven 

For the cake

2 oranges

5 eggs

250g golden caster sugar

100g polenta

100g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

For the icing

1 lemon, juiced

1 orange, juiced

3 tbsp granulated sugar

• Wash the oranges and place in a medium sized saucepan.  Cover completely with water and bring to the boil, then simmer for an hour.  Allow to cool before removing the oranges.
• Quarter the oranges and remove the pips.  If you have a food processor, blitz the oranges until they are well chopped but not a sludge.  Put to one side.
• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar.  Fold in the polenta, ground almonds, baking powder and oranges.  Carefully pour into a 25cm spring-form tin, base and sides lined with greaseproof paper.
• This mixture is very runny, so be careful when placing it in the oven.  Cook for 1 hour then test to see if the cake is ready by inserting a skewer. 
• While the cake is cooking, make the icing by mixing together the lemon and orange juice and the granulated sugar.  As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the liquid over the hot cake.  Allow the cake to cool in the tin.