Jamie Oliver Polenta Cake Food

BOLOGNESE POLENTA AND APPLE CAKE (BUSTRENGO)

Steps:

• This is a superb moist cake, a bit like a clafoutis in France, but by adding breadcrumbs and using polenta it becomes very much like an Italian bread and butter pudding. It's something that Italians would cook in the embers of the fire after dinner.
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and butter a shallow 28cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Mix the polenta, flour, breadcrumbs and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, honey and olive oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, making sure you stir it all together well. Add the figs, raisins, apples, cinnamon, orange and lemon zest and salt, and stir again.
• Pour the mixture into your cake tin and bake for about 50 minutes. Keep an eye on it - you may need to cover it with some foil if you find that it starts to brown too much at the edges. Before serving, sprinkle over some caster sugar. Then make sure you eat it warm - lovely with a dollop of crème fraîche and a glass of vin santo!

ORANGE & POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/gas 2½. Grease a 20cm springform tin, line the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper and grease again.
• Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy - don't worry if it looks gritty, as the sugar will dissolve when it's cooked. Beat in the eggs, one by one, then stir in the vanilla essence.
• In a small bowl, combine the ground almonds, polenta, orange zest, orange blossom water and baking powder, then stir this into the cake mix.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the surface is light brown and the cake is coming away slightly from the sides of the tin.
• Remove the tin from the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate. This cake will be quite fragile, so handle carefully as you remove it.
• To make the syrup, crush the cardamom pods, then put all of the ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, or until reduced and thickened slightly. Set aside to cool.
• Prick the cake all over with a skewer, then brush generously with the syrup. Delicious served with a dollop of crème fraîche or yoghurt and an extra drizzle of syrup.

PROPER POLENTA

Steps:

• Bring the water to boil in a large pan. Slowly stream in the polenta, whisking continuously. Once it's mixed, continue to stir over the heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the butter and Parmesan. You can add a little more water to make it the right consistency. Season and serve straight away.

ORANGE POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Line the base and sides of a round 23cm cake tin with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. Once the mixture is combined, add all the dry ingredients and the zest and juice after you have measured off 100ml for the glaze.
• Transfer the mixture to the tin, spread evenly, then cook for about 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
• To make the glaze, put the juice and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 5 mins, then remove from the heat and allow to cool. Drizzle the orange glaze over the top of the cooled cake. Serve with Lemon ice cream, below.