Lemon Polenta Cake

March 9, 2004

The New Zealand International Arts Festival is in full swing here in Wellington at the moment and the city is really humming with performers, visitors and locals attending the many attractions.

Last weekend our Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright hosted a garden party for performers, organisers and sponsors on a large lawn in front of Government House. Fortunately for a city that summer has largely forgotten, we were blessed with a beautiful sunny afternoon with a hint of a breeze and it was very pleasant circulating among our fellow guests, sipping on a pinot gris and sampling the tasty morsels being dispatched from the kitchen - smoked salmon, little mushroom canapes, tiny Thai fishcakes, miniature meat savouries and other tempting fare.

Towards the end of the function savoury nibbles were replaced by sweet ones. After standing in the sun drinking I think quite a few people felt like a good dose of sugar.

I don't normally have much of a sweet tooth and prefer cheese to dessert. However, there is no holding back when the dessert is a lemon one and one of my favourite shopping haunts, the Mediterranean Food Warehouse sent me a delightful recipe for a lemon polenta cake. I like to keep a bottle of their imported lemon juice in the refrigerator ready for recipes like this.

The combination of ground almonds and polenta gives this cake an interesting texture and it makes a refreshing dessert. The sweet and sour syrup poured over the finished cake gives it a delightful tang.

Try it with a dollop of whipped cream or some nice thick Greek yoghurt.

Lemon Polenta Cake

250g butter, softened
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup lemon juice
150g (1 1/2 cups) ground almonds
1 cup fine polenta

Syrup
1/4 cup each lemon juice and sugar

Preheat oven to 160C. Lightly grease and line a 20cm round cake pan.

Beat the butter, rind and sugar, until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg yolks, beating well. Stir in the juice, ground almonds and polenta.

Whip the egg whites, until soft peaks form. Carefully fold into the polenta mixture.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pans. Bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Meanwhile, boil the lemon juice and sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Spoon evenly over the hot cake.

Excellent served warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or yoghurt. Also great with Limoncello liqueur poured over it.