Sticky orange polenta cake

Name: Sticky orange polenta cake
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: 2 Seville oranges; 2 lemons; 180g of blanched almonds; 4 eggs; 1 pinch of salt; 170g of caster sugar; 80ml of olive oil, plus extra for greasing; 150g of polenta; 10g of baking powder, if needed use gluten-free; 3 Seville oranges, juice only (you need about 150ml); 75g of caster sugar

by John Torode

Item 1 of 1

Dessert
easy
10
1 hour 30 minutes

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

5.00

This citrus cake recipe from chef and TV presenter John Torode has a fantastic flavour, as it uses whole lemons and oranges to make the cake. Polenta and ground almonds make for a moist and delicate crumb, as well as making it a gluten-free cake.

First published in 2015

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Over the centuries, many culinary inventions have been inspired by the scarcity of basic ingredients, such as flour and eggs. Necessity is the mother of invention... This cake is definitely one of those creations. Who would have thought that whole oranges and olive oil could make such a grand cake? Sweet, sticky and addictive, the cake has a shelf life of at least a week if you keep it in an airtight tin. Serve it either hot or cold.

Recipe taken from John's book, My Kind of Food: Recipes I Love to Cook at Home (published by Headline, September 2015).

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

2 Seville oranges
2 lemons
180g of blanched almonds
4 eggs
1 pinch of salt
170g of caster sugar
80ml of olive oil, plus extra for greasing
150g of polenta
10g of baking powder, if needed use gluten-free

For the syrup

3 Seville oranges, juice only (you need about 150ml)
75g of caster sugar

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Grease a 23cm springform cake tin

Put 1 orange and 1 lemon into a large pan, cover with water, and place a circle of greaseproof paper over the top so the fruit sits under the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Take off the heat

Toast the blanched almonds in a dry frying pan. Put them in a food processor and blitz until finely ground

Take the cooked orange and lemon out of the pan. Cut them in half and pick out the seeds. Juice the other fresh orange and lemon (throw away the shells). Put the cooked fruit (skins and all) and extra freshly squeezed juice in the food processor and blend to make a paste

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the salt until foaming. Add the sugar and beat again, then add the orange paste, almonds and olive oil. Beat again

In a separate bowl, mix the polenta and baking powder, then gently fold this into the orange mixture until it is all mixed together

Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean

Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put the orange juice and sugar in a pan and simmer over a low heat until you have a glossy syrup

Turn the cake out of the tin onto a serving plate and pour the syrup over it while it’s warm

Top tip: If you wrap up the cake (without its syrup) in a sheet of greaseproof paper and a clean tea towel it will stay moist, become stickier and last for about a week

First published in 2015

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John Torode

John Torode is one of the UK's best loved chefs and is known to millions as the judge of BBC One's Masterchef, Celebrity Masterchef and Junior Masterchef.

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