Orange, Almond and Polenta Cake (Yes it's Gluten Free!)

Pure sunshine in cake form

This cake is flavourful, dense and pudding-y. It is a very good ‘dessert cake’ especially with a good dollop of creme fraiche or Greek yogurt (we have been eating it this week with a little vanilla kefir poured over). That said it is also excellent eaten alone, or with a cup of coffee (for, ahem, breakfast) .

I used to make a lot of these gluten free cakes at Astro, changing the nuts and fruit depending on what was in season. I love this version at this time of the year, when citrus is in season. The bitterness of the orange is held by the balance of sweetness and earthy nuts and polenta.

Using a mixture of nuts, brown rice flour and polenta makes a cake that has loads of character, flavour and also nutritional benefit. I like to grind my own nuts, simply grinding them in the food processor until they are a coarse floury texture (stopping well before they turn to butter!) If you can’t grind your own nuts, or if this step feel too extra, you can use store bought almond meal and it will work just as well. If you can’t get brown rice flour, white rice flour works too (do not use mochi flour, however).