So I’ve had this packet of polenta in my cupboard for a while now and finally made something with it. I present to you my vegan and gluten free orange upside down polenta cake with pistachio, rose and cardamom. I know that title is a bit of a mouthful, but hopefully it makes you want a mouthful…
I’m forever buying different types of flour to bake cakes and breads with (in search of the best gluten free replacements for the coeliacs in my family). There is a lack of progress pictures in this recipe because I wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out. But it was beautiful and I had to tell you about it. The polenta held together very well with flaxseed as an egg substitute; great result as sometimes gluten free cakes can crumble into dust. I put orange juice in the mixture too so it wasn’t dry. It is very delicately spiced with cardamom and the rose water is only in the icing on top, so don’t be put off thinking it might be overpowering. You could choose to leave them out, but trust me, they add a gentle, warming flavour and aren’t too “perfumy”. There’s not much more to say really, other than look at my gooey, fruity, nutty, cake! Bit of alright, isn’t it? If you like the look of that, then find the recipe below, bake it and tell me about it 🙂
You will need:
- one 20cm cake tin
- baking parchment
- a few bowls
- and obviously an oven
(In the pictures mine is double layered with icing in between as well as on top, because I thought I had too much cake mixture so separated into two tins. But in fact it would have worked best as one, so I’ll write this recipe as one. I make mistakes too, on occasion.)
INGREDIENTS
- 100g polenta (cornmeal)
- 50g ground almonds
- 50g plain white flour (Doves, Glutafin, or regular if not making gluten free)
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 3 flax eggs (3 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 9 tbsp water)
- 3 oranges (the juice of 2 and slice the other thinly, carefully remove seeds and peel around the outside once sliced)
- 200ml non-dairy milk, I used almond
To decorate:
- 1 tbsp chopped pistachios (quick blitz in food processor)
- 1 tsp rosewater
- Icing – make a small amount of the runny, glace icing according to packet instructions. I coloured mine pink with a splash of cranberry juice – be careful buying food colourings as many are not vegan!
METHOD
- Preheat your oven to 190C. All cake recipes start like this don’t they? These are the cake rules. Oven on now, please and thanks.
- In a small bowl, mix the flax and water well and leave to one side for 10mins or so until it reaches a gooey consistency, much like an actual egg.
- In a large bowl, combine the polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder and cardamom.
- Add the milk, orange juice, flax eggs to the dry ingredients and stir together until everything is combined well.
- Prepare the cake tin by lining the bottom with a cut-to-size circle of baking parchment. Grease the sides with a small amount of vegan margarine or oil. Arrange the slices of de-seeded and peeled oranges on the parchment, cover as much of the base as you can (cos it will look really nice on the top once baked!)
- Pour the cake mixture evenly into the tin and bake in the oven for 30-35 mins until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for a few mins before flipping out of the tin. Peel back the parchment to reveal your oranges and let it cool completely before decorating.
- Prepare the glace icing (mix in the rosewater and cranberry juice for colour if you want to include this). Drizzle over the top of the cake and scatter over the chopped pistachios. Now you can slice and eat it.
The texture of polenta is coarser than wheat flour, so you will get a firmer cake, not a light and fluffy sponge. Which is really pleasant in this recipe as it’s sweet, well flavoured with almonds and cardamom and moist from the orange juice. Not exactly a healthy recipe, but remember there’s no dairy in this and it contains nuts and fruit which count for something, right? Hope you like it!
S.x
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