LATE SUMMER CAKE



Gluten free cake polenta lemon almonds

 I love Italian cakes, they are always quite simple. When I was sixteen my dad and me, travelled around Italy, each night we would eat different cakes after dinner. Well, actually he would have a grappa and I would have cake. We would gossip about the people we saw in the village, invent back stories for them, and have a good laugh. 
I still like cake after dinner,
and I can recommend it it lighthearted gossip. But it also tastes wonderful with late summer fruit. Enjoy!
Gluten free cake polenta lemon almonds
Gluten free cake polenta lemon almonds



Gluten free cake polenta lemon almonds


Gluten free cake polenta lemon almonds



Recipe for Almond Polenta cake, from the River Cafe cook book ( one of my favorites, chock full of great Italian/Tuscan recipes, find it here)
.450g caster sugar
.450g ground almond
.6 eggs 
.Grated rinds of 4 lemons
.Juice of one lemon
.225g Polenta
.1 teaspoon baking powder
.6 eggs 

.450gm butter*
.2 teaspoons vanilla extract


* next time I will try to make it with olive or coconut oil, and this time I used maple syrup instead of sugar, I like the taste much more)
Preheat the oven to 325°F/ 170 °C. 
Beat together the butter and sugar. Combine it with the ground almonds and vanilla extract. Add, and beat eggs in one at the time. Add the lemon zest, the polenta and baking powder. Take a buttered 30 cm round cake tin, pour the mixture in and bake it for 45 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

Enjoy it with seasonal fruit and some dessert wine.