RECIPE | COCONUT AND LIME POLENTA DRIZZLE CAKE

I love to bake with polenta and having not made a polenta cake in a while I thought I would try out with a new recipe.

The grittiness and nutty texture of the polenta compliments the bite of the dessicated coconut. When both are combined and drenched in a lime syrup drizzle it makes for a super moist cake.

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

200g Caster Sugar

200g Butter

3 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Zest of 2 Limes

100g Polenta

140g Self-Raising Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

70g Dessicated Coconut

4tbsp Milk

Drizzle:

Juice of 2 Limes

40g Granulated Sugar

50g Caster Sugar

Icing:

6tbsp Icing Sugar

1tsp of Water

2tbsp Toasted Dessicated Coconut

 Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and grease and line a loose bottomed 8" cake tin.

2. In a bowl, place the milk over the dessicated coconut and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until it is light in colour and fluffy in texture.

4. Add the eggs, vanilla essence and lime zest and beat the mixture together until it is well combined.

5. Add the flour, polenta and baking powder to the wet ingredients and fold them together.

6. Add the milk soaked dessicated coconut to this mixture and fold together until a smooth cake batter is formed.

7. Place the mixture into the cake tin and place on the centre shelf of your oven to bake for 30-40 minutes.

8. To make the drizzle, take the juice of 2 limes and stir together with the granulated sugar and caster sugar. Once the cake has been removed from the oven, immediately pierce it with a skewer all over and then pour the lime drizzle mix on top of the cake.

9. Once the cake has cooled and the drizzle has set you can remove the cake from the tin. Make up the icing mix by sieving the icing sugar and adding the water to create a thick drizzling consistency. Drizzle this over the cake in lines and then scatter with the toasted dessicated coconut.

RECIPE | CLEMENTINE DRIZZLE CAKE

Surpise surprise! It's another loaf cake...

This time I've used up some clementines (I have an abundance of the juicy fruit thanks to a great swag at Leeds Market the other day). It's a simple recipe and easy to make. It's also an all round pleaser and makes a nice little change to the traditional lemon drizzle.

Ingredients:

Cake:

175g Butter

175g Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

1 1/2tsp Vanilla Essence

Zest of 2 Clementines

175g Self-Raising Flour

1 1/2tsp Baking Powder

1tbsp Clementine Juice

2tbsp Milk

Drizzle:

Juice of 2 Clementines

80g Granulated Sugar

2tbsp Icing Sugar

 Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.

2. Cream the butter and the sugar together with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes until light in colour and fluffy in texture.

3. Add the clementine zest, vanilla essence and eggs to the mixture and stir until combined.

4. Fold in the flour and the baking powder and mix together.

5. Add the clementine juice and milk to loosen the mixture into a light cake batter.

6, Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake on the center shelf of your oven for 40 minutes.

7. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and pierce the cake several times with a skewer.

8. Mix together the drizzle ingredients and pour generously over the cake whilst it is still in the tin.

9. Once the cake has cooled and the drizzle has set then it is ready to devour!

 

RECIPE | LEMON AND POPPY SEED POLENTA CAKE

LEMON AND POPPY SEED POLENTA CAKE

A few weeks back I had the exciting ordeal of making a cake one of my much-loved lemon and poppy seed polenta cake's to be sent down to Duke Studios in Leeds for a fancy photo shoot to be featured in the August edition of the brand new and fabulous online culinary journal Food&_.

....the actual feature is listed HERE and below you can see the recipe for a delightfully moist gluten free lemon drizzle cake!

Cake:

200g Unsalted Butter

200g Ground Almonds

100g Polenta

2tsp Baking Powder (Gluten-free if this is for wheat or gluten intolerant people)

50g Poppy Seeds

2 Eggs

1tsp Vanilla Essence

3tbsp Plain Yoghurt

2tbsp Lemon Juice

2-3tbsp Milk

Zest of 3 Lemons

Crunchy Lemon Glaze:

Juice of 3 Lemons

130g Icing Sugar

50g Granulated Sugar

Lemon Icing:

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

115g Icing Sugar

Poppy Seeds and Lemon Zest to Sprinkle on top of the Icing

Method:

1.  Line and grease a 9" springform cake tin with baking parchment and butter and then pre-heat your oven to 180°C.

2.  Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer or standing mixer until light and fluffy and pale in colour.

3.  Add the eggs and the vanilla essence to the butter and sugar.

4.  Weight out the ground almonds, polenta, baking powder and poppy seeds and fold into the wet mixture.

5.  At this point fold in the lemon zest, lemon juice and yoghurt. Mix it until it is all evenly combined. If the mixture feels quite stiff then add between 1-3tbsp of milk to loosen it.

6.  Place the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 30-40 minutes until firm in the middle.

7.  Whilst the cake is still in the oven, prepare the crunchy lemon glaze mixture. Once the cake is removed from the oven, whilst still hot, prick the cke several times with a skewer and top with the crunchy lemon glaze using a pastry brush or pallet knife.

8. Leave to cool and refrigerate over night. Before serving top with the lemon icing and top with poppy seeds and lemon zest.

Photography and Styling: Jonathan Finch and Katy Lanceley

RECIPE | KIWI, COCONUT AND CRUNCHY LEMON MUFFINS

Inspiration for these muffins was taken from THIS recipe. 

I used lemons as I had no limes and decided to experiment a little bit by making a lemon drizzle to top the muffins with to give it a nice and tangy sugary crunch

 These are delightfully moist and a great way to use up over-ripe Kiwis.

This recipe makes around 9 muffins or 12 cup cakes.

Ingredients:

For the Muffins:

150g Plain Flour

1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

60g of Dessicated Coconut

3tbsp Oil

120g Caster Sugar

1 Egg

1tsp Vanilla Essence

Zest of 1 Lemon

2 Kiwis

For the Crunchy Lemon Drizzle:

3tbsp Granulated Sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

Instructions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 200 and line a muffin tray with 9 muffin cases or 12 cupcake cases.

2.  In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil until creamy, light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla essence and beat until mixed.

3.  Peel the kiwis and blend them with a hand blender or in a food processor until pureed. Add 2tbsp of water to the kiwi puree. Add the kiwi puree, along with the lime zest to the sugar, eggs and vanilla essence.

4.  In a separate bowl, sieve the flour and mix in the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and coconut. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

5.  Place a generous tablespoon (or more) of mixture into each muffin case and then sprinkle the muffins with a bit of extra dessicated coconut. Place in the middle tray of your oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.

6.  Whilst waiting for the muffins to cook, take a saucepan and on a low heat add the sugar and lemon juice. Keep stirring until it starts to thicken.

7.  When the muffins are out the oven, take a skewer and whilst hot poke around 5 or 6 holes into the top of each muffin.

8.  Drizzle over the lemon and sugar mix whilst hot and leave to cool.