Lime polenta cake

Barbara is one of my favorite foodies. She’s a wonderful cook and has some great victories in life – surviving cancer is one of them. Not to mention she’s the mind behind “Hay, Hay, it’s Donna Day” – and if you think this is not enough (are you crazy??), she’s promoting “A Taste of Yellow”, a foodblog event linked to (and approved by) the Lance Armstrong Foundation as a part of LiveStrong Day.



All you have to do to take part is cook a dish with some type of yellow food. Pretty easy, right?

I wouldn’t miss this event for the world – I lost my mom to cancer (and my grandmother and one of my aunts) and I know how alert one must be about this terrible disease.

Please join me, Barbara and other foodies – let’s spread the word!

Lime polenta cake
adapted from here

250g butter
200g (1 cup) caster sugar
zest of 4 limes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
210g (1 ¼ cups) ground almonds
182g (1 cup) polenta
35g (¼ cup) self-raising flour
pinch of salt

Citrus syrup:
300g (1 ½ cups) caster sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) lemon, lime, orange or mandarin juice – I used orange
80ml (1/3 cup) water
3 strips of any citrus fruit rind

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF . Brush a deep, 22cm round cake tin with melted butter or oil and line the base and sides with baking paper – I used a 25cm not so deep pan and lined only the bottom with paper.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric beaters until light and creamy. Add the zest and vanilla; beat until thoroughly combined.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. The mixture will look quite curdled at this stage. Add the juice, almonds, polenta, flour and salt. Stir until the mixture is smooth. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre.
Set the cake aside for at least 10 minutes before turning out of the tin. Drizzle with citrus syrup or cut into wedges and serve warm with ice cream or thick cream.

Make the syrup: combine all the ingredients in a pan. Stir over low heat, without boiling, until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 12-15 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Remove the rind and pour the hot syrup over the hot cake*.

This cake keeps for up to 3 days in an airtight container and can be reheated in the microwave.

*I photographed the cake after a while – the hardened syrup formed this delicious sugary icing over the cake.