Lemon polenta cake

Rich and sharp with nice grittiness texture from the polenta

• 200g butter

• 200g sugar

• 200g ground almonds

• 100g fine polenta (or cornmeal)

• 1½ teaspoons baking powder

• 3 eggs

• zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

For the syrup

• juice of the 2 unwaxed lemons

• 4 tablespoons sugar

1. Grease a 23cm cake tin lightly with butter.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

3. Whipped by hand the butter and sugar till pale.

4. Mix together the almonds, polenta and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.

5. Finally, beat in the lemon zest and pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. The cake is cooked when a knife come out cleanish. Remove from the oven, let it cool down in the tin.

6. Make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and the sugar in a saucepan. Stop once the sugar is dissolved into the juice.

7. Prick the top of the cake all over with a skewer, pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of its tin.