Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt Cake

Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt

I turned 30 last week. I don’t really know how that happened, but I’m going to play along and claim that I’m OK with it, and that I’m not remotely having a miniature crisis of self. I celebrated with good friends, eating pizza at my favourite place in Walthamstow (long term readers and anyone that follows me on my instagram will know that that’s SoDo Pizza Cafe), before flying off for a week in Iceland with my girlfriend, Maddie. Iceland was an absolutely incredible trip, including the best cinnamon bun of my life, numerous mountains, black sand beaches, infinite waterfalls and the most metal church I’ve ever seen. I’ll probably get around to that trip properly at a later date, but it was something from that adventure which prompted me to crack out my new bundt tin; Skyr. It’s everywhere in Iceland and you can use it in the same way as yogurt for most things, but it’s a bit thicker with a slightly different flavour.

Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt

I got a new bundt tin for Christmas. It’s a little smaller and has slightly easier lines for turning out the cake. I love my other one, but the harsh ridges can sometimes cause havoc with getting cakes out of the tin, and a bundt cake can be a costly re-bake. If you aren’t sure which tin I’m talking about, you can see a couple of examples on my blog in the Tahini & Chocolate Bundt or the Baileys Bunt. The new tin is a bit smoother, and slightly more classic in design, making an absolutely gorgeously shaped bundt cake. This was a great excuse to finally crack it out and make something perfect for spring, now the beast from the east has left and its finally shown its face.

Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt

I had one of the worst hangovers of my life when I decorated and photographed this cake, so if the photos are a bit hap-hazard then I’m going to blame it on the fact that I felt like I was dying and was struggling to stand up.

Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt

Polenta and ground almonds in place of flour lead to an incredibly light cake with a good crumb, the drizzle makes it wonderfully moist and the drizzle adds an extra level of citrus-y bite.

What’s your favourite type of bundt cake?

Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt Cake
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 1 Cake
Ingredients
  • **For the cake**
  • 200g ground almonds
  • 170g polenta
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 200g butter, room temperature
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 4 medium eggs, divided
  • 170g skyr (or greek yoghurt)
  • zest of one lemon and orange
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp orange juice
  • ½tsp orange extract
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • **For the syrup**
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 125g sugar
  • **For the glaze**
  • 130g icing sugar
  • 2-3 tsp. lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (155°C fan assisted) and grease your 6 cup-bundt tin by brushing with melted butter.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the polenta, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda and cornflour.
  3. Beat the egg whites to stiff picks on high speed using an electric mixer.
  4. Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. This can take a few minutes, then mix through the egg yolks, one at a time.
  5. Stir through the skyr, zests and juices. It will likely curdle a little at this point but don't worry.
  6. Mix through the dry mix before carefully stirring through the egg whites.
  7. Dust the prepared tin with flour and transfer the mixture to the tin.
  8. Place in the center of the pre-heated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes. The top will be golden brown and the edges will have started coming away from the tin slightly. A tooth pick inserted into a deep part of the cake will come out clean.
  9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  10. While it's cooling, make the syrup. Over a medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice. Once it's completely dissolved, boil for a minute.
  11. Poke holes all over the whole cake and gently pour the syrup into them.
  12. Allow to cool completely in the tin before turning out.
  13. Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice, adding more juice if it's too thick, to make a thick glaze. Carefully dribble this over the top of the cake.
  14. Serve sliced.
 

4 thoughts on “Orange & Lemon Polenta Bundt Cake

  1. Hello Mike! I just made the recipe. Are you sure that this is a recipe for 6 cup bundt pan? Because I had way to many batter at the end.

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