Raspberry Almond Polenta Cake
This is a Bakewell flavoured version of a lemon polenta cake which works perfectly with less sugar and very little flour. It is an ideal teatime cake, or could be served warm as a dessert. I’ve made it previously with fresh cherries (also delicious), but this time wanted to make the most of a box of raspberries. Lemon and raspberries are a match made in heaven - but so are almonds and raspberries. Since the recipe uses ground almonds, almond essence is a great touch to boost the flavour of the raspberries. Best of all this is a quick and simple recipe to put together. Two bowls, wet ingredients, dry ingredients, mix them, together. You could make this in a 20cm square pan and cut into squares, but I like my 22cm copper Tatin pan, which gives a round cake perfect for teatime. It is quite a solid cake - so cook it thoroughly at not too hot a temperature.
Dry Ingredients
150g caster sugar
200g finely ground almonds
60g plain flour
75g polenta
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
Use a hand whisk to knock out the lumps and blend thoroughly. This adds lightness as well.
Wet Ingredients
200g butter (or margarine) cooled slightly
4 eggs
1 teaspoon almond essence (the good sort - not almond flavouring)
Whisk together thoroughly
150 - 200g raspberries - don’t wash them, or if you must make sure they are thoroughly dried so they don’t sink to the bottom.
Method
Set your oven to 180c or 160c if, like me, you have a fan assisted oven.
Butter and flour your pan, using a circle or square of baking parchment to ensure it doesn’t stick. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix thoroughly and gently. Add the raspberries and mix through evenly and without breaking them up too much- the mixture should be quite thick. Keep back a few raspberries to place on top - for the look of the thing.Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, finishing with your reserved raspberries. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes. If your oven is at the correct temperature it shouldn’t burn on top, but keep an eye on it. This is quite a firm textured cake and when cooked a skewer poked in should be clean. (Unless smeared with raspberry juice!). Leave it in the pan to cool for ten minutes before turning out to finish on the rack. I sift the top with icing sugar.
Variations on the theme are limitless. Lemon zest with blueberries, cherries with almond, raspberries with lemon, even fresh apricots with orange zest. This cake is a useful blank canvas for all sorts of flavours.
