Little bee and sweet melody: gluten-free orange and lemon polenta cake

They are several reasons why I love cooking.

It relaxes me- as long as I don't have to cook for a whole regiment too often- and it makes me happy. I love homemade food maybe more than food served in restaurants. Actually, a recent visit to the absolutely amazing Claridge's in London could prove me wrong ( if I was a rich girl, I would dine there every week).

So I was saying, homemade cook food is (to rare exceptions) the best.
Another reason why I love cooking is for the compliments. There is nothing better than being complimented when serving a made from scratch 3 course meal to an audience of hungry friends. And I don't tell you about the joy of seeing their faces when comes dessert. This really makes me happy.

But satisfying everyone is not always easy and requires preparation.

About 2 weeks ago, I was faced with the challenge to cook a gluten- free meal when 2 of our lovely friends came for dinner. Dessert was the tricky part. After a good week of research, I came up with the desire to bake a Gluten-free Orange and Honey Polenta Cake. A mix of different recipes using ingredients I love: honey and orange blossom water. I served this sweet treat with a homemade yogurt perfumed with northern African flavours.

The result put a smile on our faces: there wasn't much left of the cake at the end of the evening.

To make this Little Bee and Sweet Melody polenta cake you'll need:
Serves 6 to 8

220g of butter
220g of unrefined caster sugar
120g of almonds
3 large free range eggs
200g of polenta (organic is preferred)
1 lightly heaped tsp of baking powder
A zest + juice of a finely grated orange
A splash of orange blossom water

For the syrup
The juice of an orange
4 tbs of honey
The juice of 1 lemon
(2 tsp of sugar: optional)

Line the base of a nonstick, loose-bottomed cake tin (about 20cm in diameter) with a piece of baking parchment. Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

In a food mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until combined and light.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs lightly and add them to the butter and sugar mixture.
Add in the polenta and the baking powder; mix gently. Now add the orange zest, orange blossom water and the orange juice. Mix well until combined.

Transfer the cake mixture to the lines tin then smooth the surface.

Bake for about 30minutes or until the blade of a knife comes up clean from the cake. The cake should be of a nice golden colour.

In the meantime, make the syrup.
In a stainless-steel saucepan on a low heat, put the orange and lemon juices. Bring to the boil and add the honey. Keep boiling until the liquid has formed a thin syrup. If this doesn't happen after 5 minutes, add some caster sugar.

Now, the cake should be ready and still warm (in its tin). Spikes holes in it with a skewer and spoon over the hot syrup. Let it cool before taking it out of its tin.

Serve with greek yogurt.

Take a look at your guests' faces. They should be smiling at this point.


Inspired from Nigel Slater's Honey and polenta cake with elderflower and gooseberries.

9th January is detox!

Christmas is always a fantastic time which seems to make people happier and cheerful. I like that!
Eating lots of cheese with a glass of port, drinking mulled wine after a cold pre-winter day. But what I especially like about December is that it is the month for mince pies. We usually have our first on the 1st December and the last one, whenever we get sick of them. I guess we are now starting to feel this way!

It is now January and it's cold, snowy and the only thing I feel like eating at the moment is comfy food. Warm stews, porridge and lots of piping hot herbals and teas. I am definitely not a winter girl!

So really, what I should be making today is a nice indulgent cake. Warm oven, satisfying piece of sweetness and comfort. A cake should be what I need. But I think I'll leave this to tomorrow.
Why?

Don't forget it is January and that I've been indulging for the past weeks. So 9th January is detox! Fruit lassi is the cure. A mix of yogurt, mango, passion fruit and some vanilla pod should give me enough vitamins to fight any undesirable cold. Detox and prevention, all in one drink.

10th January is back to the normal life: Sunday baking!
x

The quiet before the storm or Shortbreads in 2 ways.

The past two and a half years have been a kind of break between studying History of Art and working out what I really want to do with my life. This may sound like an existential question a lot of us have been asking ourselves at some point in our life. The good news is that I have found my way. The bad - not as bad as it sounds- is that it is going to be a little more difficult than expected. Not surprising really.

The question I have been asking myself so many times was: "what do you really like and want to do"(in fact I was more like, think, think think!!!). And finally, I found the answer "Food, eating, cooking and running my own business". The greatest news is that I can combine some, if not all of them into one project. The idea is yet a secret and will be revealed later on (once I am sure it is possible). "Don't try to run before knowing how to walk" said my maman. I guess she was right.

So to get where I want to be I have to go back to "school". And you know what, I am really excited about it; a Master in Culinary Arts. Yep, sounds exactly like what I need. It promises to be hard and rewarding and in two years my project should come to life. I am positive.

In the meantime, before things become to hectic I can't resist the call of my new kitchen. Afternoon baking is a real therapy.
The quiet before the storm or Shortbreads in 2 ways: vanilla and hazelnut.
(Note you will have to leave the dough to rest for 1 hour or overnight)

What you'll need to make the shortbread:
Makes 25 to 28 shortbreads
100g of caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
200g of unsalted butter, softened
300g of plain flour, sifted
1 pinch of salt
50 of ground hazelnuts
1/2 vanilla pod, halved lengthways

In a bowl or food processor, mix together the butter and sugar until lightly creamed. Once done, add the sieved flour and salt and mix until the preparation crumbles.

Now divide the mix in two equal portions.

In the first one, add the ground hazelnuts. Mix everything to a soft long dough (your shortbreads once cut will take the shape of a circle). Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for a minimun of an hour.

To de-seed the vanilla pod, use a sharp knife and scrap the vanilla pod lengthways. Add the seeds to the second half of the mixture and as above mix everything to a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of an hour.

After an hour or more, take both dough out of the fridge and cut them lengthway. You should get around 25 to 28 circles each roughly 1cm thick. Place them on a greased baking tray 2 to 3cm apart from each other.

Preheat the oven to 160ºC or gas mark 3.

Sprinkle with some sugar and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

The final step: bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Once cooked, leave them to stand for an other 10 minutes and then ENJOY with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Inspired by Delicious. Magazine, Vanilla Shortbreads.