They say we eat with our eyes. Mmmm, maybe. But here’s a gorgeous cake that may not look especially tempting, but the taste and fudgy texture make up for any lack of “prettyness”, I promise. What’s more, it’s gluten free.

Makes: 10 – 12 slices

Level: Very easy

Time: Very quick to prepare then about 40 – 50 minutes in the oven.

Need: 23cm round, loose bottomed baking tin

Ingredients

140g butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
3 eggs
250g golden caster sugar
200g ground almonds
175g polenta*
1 tsp GF baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum powder
1 – 2 tsp ground ginger
About 125g – 150g stem ginger pieces, chopped + some syrup**

* I like the graininess of polenta, but some of it could be replaced with flour. In fact I made a version using half polenta and half gluten free self raising flour.

** I used about 30ml of syrup in the cake mixture, but a little more would probably be OK. I didn’t have much left in the jar, so I brushed the remainder over the cake before it went in the oven. (That’s an option, or brush some on when the cake comes out of the oven, maybe.)

Method

1. Butter the cake tin and heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4.

2. Put all the ingredients except the stem ginger and syrup in a bowl and mix well*. Stir in the ginger pieces and syrup.

* I used a stand mixer, but an electric hand mixer would be fine, or even a wooden spoon and a strong arm.

3. Spoon the batter into the cake tin, level it and bake for 42-50 minutes, or until golden and starting to shrink away from the sides.

4. Leave in the tin for ten minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

(I told you it’s quick and easy, didn’t I?)

I hope you enjoy this lovely cake. If you want more cake recipes click this link, or have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury. Below are a few that I’d love you to try:

Rhubarb, Almond and White Chocolate Cake