Tom Kerridge's Lemon and Rosemary Polenta Cake
This is a fresh, zesty and moist cake bursting with flavour and it has a beautiful texture thanks to the combination of ground almonds and polenta. The addition of rosemary lends interest and depth of flavour. Perfect to round off your vegetarian Sunday lunch.
Ingredients
Cake
Lemon and rosemary syrup
Whipped cream to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C fan. Grease and line a 23cm round springform cake tin.
In a large bowl, beat together with an electric hand whisk; the butter, sugar, and vanilla, until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the chopped fresh rosemary and the lemon zest to the bowl followed by the ground almonds, polenta and baking powder. Beat again until well combined.
Transfer the cake batter to the tin, smooth out the top with a palette knife and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 50 minutes.
While the cake is cooking, place all the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan, bring up to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for around 5 minutes, or until thickened slightly.
When the cake has cooked, remove it from the oven. Test it with a skewer – it should come out clean; if not, return the cake to the oven and cook for a couple of minutes then test again until the skewer comes out clean. With the cake still warm in the tin, spoon over the syrup evenly, letting it all soak in. Remove the rosemary sprigs and discard.
After 15 minutes or when the cake has cooled a little, remove it from the tin and transfer to a serving plate. Just before serving, whip up the double cream with the icing sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Transfer the cream to a bowl and serve it alongside the cake.
Tom’s tip
You can tell a cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. The cake’s surface should be golden brown and it will be coming slightly away from the tin.
