Everyday dinners
Gluten-free polenta cake
A golden polenta cake with ground almonds, orange zest and a gently crumbly texture.
Fine polenta gives this orange-scented cake a gentle bite, while ground almonds keep the crumb tender. It is a simple, uniced cake to cut into small wedges.
Use dry, finely ground polenta: coarse grains can stay gritty, and ready-cooked polenta will not work here. Let the cake cool before slicing so it holds together.
The recipe
Gluten-free polenta cake
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total*
- 65 min
- Makes
- 12 servings
*Estimated development timings. Allow about 90 minutes for cooling after baking, including 20 minutes standing in the tin. Cooling is additional to the total time.
Ingredients
Tick things off as you go.
For the cake
Equipment
- Use a 23 cm round springform cake tin at least 5 cm deep.
- Use baking parchment to line the base and sides.
- Use kitchen scales, measuring spoons and two mixing bowls.
- Use an electric hand mixer and a flexible spatula.
- Use a fine grater for the orange zest.
- Use a thin cake tester, a wire cooling rack and a wide cake lifter or flat plate.
Let’s make it.
- 01
Prepare
Heat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan. Line the tin's base and sides with parchment. Wash and dry the orange, then grate off the coloured zest, stopping before the white pith.
- 02
Mix
Combine almonds, polenta and baking powder. In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and zest for 3–5 minutes until visibly lighter and fluffy.
- 03
Add the eggs
Beat in each egg with a spoonful of the dry mixture. Fold in the remaining dry mixture until no dry pockets remain. Do not taste raw batter. Spread evenly in the tin.
- 04
Bake
Bake for 40–45 minutes until golden, the centre is set and a thin tester shows crumbs without wet batter. If needed, bake longer, checking every 5 minutes.
- 05
Cool
Stand in the tin on a rack for 20 minutes. Release the sides, keeping the base underneath for support. Cool for about 70 minutes more, until the centre feels cool. Slide onto a plate using a wide lifter and cut into 12 wedges.
Ingredient checks
Choose polenta and baking powder labelled gluten-free. Check ground almonds and all other packaged ingredients for gluten-free suitability and allergen warnings. Polenta is maize, but milling and packing can introduce gluten cross-contact. For someone with coeliac disease, use clean bowls, beaters, utensils and a cake tin, and keep ingredients away from wheat flour and breadcrumbs.
Allergens: Contains eggs, milk from butter, and tree nuts from almonds.; No other UK declarable allergens are deliberately included; check every ingredient label for additional allergens and cross-contact warnings..
Make it work for you
Replace the orange zest with the finely grated zest of one washed unwaxed lemon for a sharper scent.
For a dairy-free version, try 200 g of a firm dairy-free baking block suitable for gluten-free baking; avoid low-fat spread and check for soya.
Do not replace the almonds with polenta or gluten-free flour in equal quantities, as this changes the moisture balance.
These variations have not been kitchen-tested.
For another day
Cool the cake on a rack, then place in a covered container and refrigerate within two hours of baking; keep the fridge at 0–5°C and eat within 48 hours.
Freeze cooled slices individually wrapped in an airtight container for up to one month for best quality; the texture after freezing has not been tested.
Defrost covered in the fridge and eat within 24 hours of fully thawing; reheating is not needed.
Exploding food
What goes in.
The ingredients, seen a little differently. This image is an illustration of the main ingredients; use the written recipe for the full list and quantities.
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