Orange And Polenta Cake Nigella Food

LEMON POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• This cake is a sort of Anglo-Italian amalgam. The flat, plain disc is reminiscent of the confections that sit geometrically arranged in patisserie windows in Italy; the sharp, syrupy sogginess borrows from the classic English teatime favorite, the lemon drizzle cake. It is a good marriage: I love Italian cooking in all respects save one - I find their cakes both too dry and too sweet. Here, though, the flavorsome grittiness of the polenta and tender rubble of ground almond meal provide so much better a foil for the wholly desirable dampness than does the usual flour.
• But there is more to it than that. By some alchemical process, the lemon highlights the eggy butteriness of the cake, making it rich and sharp at the same time. If you were to try to imagine what lemon curd would taste like in cake form, this would be it.
• Although I am greedily happy to slice and cram messily straight into my mouth, letting damp clumps fall where they will, this cake is best eaten - in company at least - with spoon and fork. Either way, consider it a contender for teatime comfort and supper-party celebration alike.
• For the cake: Line the base of your cake pan with parchment paper and grease its sides lightly with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Beat the butter and sugar till pale and whipped, either by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon, or using a freestanding mixer.
• Mix together the almond meal, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.
• Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour, spoon or scrape the mixture into your prepared pan and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. It may seem wibbly but, if the cake is cooked, a cake tester should come out cleanish and, most significantly, the edges of the cake will have begun to shrink away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in its pan.
• For the syrup: Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar in a smallish saucepan. Once the confectioners' sugar has dissolved into the juice, you're done. Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester (a skewer would be too destructive), pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of its pan.
• Make Ahead Note: The cake can be baked up to 3 days ahead and stored in airtight container in a cool place. Will keep for total of 5 to 6 days.
• Freeze Note: The cake can be frozen on its lining paper as soon as cooled, wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil, for up to 1 month. Thaw for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature.

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.

ORANGE OLIVE OIL CAKE

Steps:

• Bring a pan of water to the boil. Lower the orange in and cover with a lid, leaving a gap so that a little steam can still escape. Boil gently for 30 mins, then remove from the water and allow to cool slightly. Quarter the orange and remove any pips, then transfer to a blender or food processor, add the lemon juice and zest and blitz to a smooth purée.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Oil the sides of a 23cm round cake tin and line the bottom of the tin with baking parchment.
• Sieve the almonds, polenta, baking powder and ½ tsp salt into a large bowl and mix together thoroughly. Whisk the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until really pale and fluffy, about 4 mins. With the mixer still whisking, slowly pour in the olive oil in a steady stream so that the mixture doesn't split. Once incorporated, scrape in the orange purée and whisk to combine, then add the dry ingredients, combining until you have a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 55 mins to 1 hr 5 mins until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Cool in the tin on a wire rack while you make the syrup. Combine the sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, cardamom and 30ml water in a pan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then add the rosemary. Turn off the heat and infuse for at least 30 mins.
• Use a skewer to poke holes in the top of the cake, then pour over the syrup. Allow to settle for 5 mins or so, then slice and serve with some natural yogurt or crème fraîche, if you like.

MOROCCAN ORANGE & CARDAMOM CAKE

Steps:

• Put the whole oranges in a pan, cover with water and boil, covered, for 1 hr until a knife easily pierces them. If the oranges won't stay under the water, place a small saucepan lid directly on top to keep them submerged. Remove the oranges from the water and cool, then quarter and remove any seeds and obvious pith where the stalk was. Blitz the oranges to a rough purée with a hand blender or in a food processor and put in a large bowl.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and line the base and sides of a 21cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment. Beat the cardamom, xylitol and eggs into the orange purée, then mix the ground almonds with the polenta, flour and baking powder, and fold in until well blended. Scrape the mixture into the tin, level the top and bake for 40 mins.
• After 40 minutes, scatter over the almonds, quickly return to the oven and bake 20-25 mins more until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the tin and leave to cool. Serve sliced as a cake, or with Greek yogurt or cream as a dessert.

ORANGE POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C Grease a 22cm round loose bottom cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
• Wash the orange and place it in a saucepan(do not peel the orange-leave it whole). Cover with water and weigh the orange down with a smll saucer or bowl. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove the orange from the saucepan and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
• Chop the orange coarsely and discard any seeds.
• Place the orange and any of its juice into a food processor and pulse until it is finely chopped. Add the butter, sugar, flour, gum, polenta, almond meal, baking powder, egg yolks and the liquer. Pulse until just combined- do not over process.
• In a seperate bowl- whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
• Fold the egg whites into the orange mixture.
• pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40- 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile- combine the orange syrup ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. The syrup will thicken slightly. Set the syrup aside until the cake is cooked.
• When you remove the cake from the oven, poke holes all over the surface and down into the cake( this allows the syrup to be absorbed better). Leave the cake in the tin.
• Pour all of the syrup over the surface of the cake and let the cake stand for at least 20 minutes, or until the syrup is absorbed into the cake.

LEMON POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Butter a 23cm cake tin and heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the lemons in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, drain, pour over more cold water, then simmer for 1 hr until the lemons are really soft, topping up with more water if you need to. Drain the lemons well. When cool, halve them, remove the pips and blitz in a food processor to a purée.
• Add all the other cake ingredients and carry on blitzing until you have a loose batter. Scrape the batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-50 mins until golden and starting to shrink away from the sides.
• While the cake bakes, make the drizzle by mixing the sugar with the lemon juice. When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. While still warm, pour over the drizzle and leave to cool completely. Serve with mascarpone.

ORANGE POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• In a medium mixing bowl, cream margarine, sugar and vanilla essence with electric beater.
• Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, continue beating between additions.
• Blend in yoghurt, polenta, coconut, orange rind and orange juice.
• Beat well for further 2 minutes.
• Pour into greased ring pan.
• Bake in a moderately slow oven (160C) for 40 to 50 minutes, or until cooked when tested and golden brown.