Freycob

"Good Food Made Easy"

Boiled Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

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For those who don’t like their cakes too sweet, but still love them full of flavour, then this one is definitely for you!  As it contains corn meal/polenta instead of flour, it’s also gluten free (ensure you use gluten free baking powder in this instance).  I glazed mine with an orange and Amaretto syrup.

This is an incredibly easy cake to make and can be prepared quickly and easily using a food processor.  I have a Kenwood MultiPro Sense food processor which also has a weighing scale built in, so this really is an easy, one bowl wonder of a cake to make!

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

Ingredients:
2 large oranges
250g demerara sugar
200g ground almonds
100g fine ground corn meal / dried polenta
6 large eggs
2tsp baking powder (see note above re: gluten free)
2tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon

Orange & Amaretto Syrup:
75g caster sugar
60ml water
1 large orange, juice and zest
30ml Amaretto

Method:

  1. Wash any wax coating off the oranges.
  2. Place the oranges into a large saucepan and cover with cold water.
  3. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a simmer.
  4. Simmer for 1 hour until the oranges have softened.
  5. Remove the oranges from the water and set aside to cool.
  6. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
  7. Grease and line a 23cm/9″ springform cake tin.
  8. Cut the oranges into ¼ and remove the pips.

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

  1. Place the oranges (skin, pith and pulp) into a food processor with the sugar and blitz into a smooth paste.

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

  1. Add the almonds, corn meal/polenta, eggs, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon.

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

  1. Blitz together until combined.
  2. Pour the cake batter into your prepared tin.

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

  1. Bake for 60 minutes, until cooked in the centre.

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

  1. Cool the cake in the tin.
  2. Remove the cake from the tin when cold and place it on to a plate.
  3. For the glaze, add the sugar and water into a saucepan and heat gently, bringing it to the boil without stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has turned a golden brown.
  4. Add the orange juice, orange zest and amaretto and stir to fully combine.
  5. Bring back to the boil and boil gently until the syrup has reduced and become thickened.
  6. Poke small holes in the top of the cake to allow the syrup to soak through.
  7. Pour the syrup over the cake evenly and gently, allowing it to soak in.
  8. Serve the cake warm or cold with some clotted cream, ice cream, or cream.

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

For my cornmeal, I used Gaya Foods Authentic Brazilian corn meal which I bought in my local Tesco

Bitter Orange & Polenta Cake

This recipe was neither sponsored, or endorsed by Kenwood, Gaya Foods or by Tesco.

Baked Pear & Amaretto Cheesecake with Del Monte

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If you’re of my generation (40 something and rapidly heading towards 50) you’ll probably remember the Sunday tea time treat of tinned fruit and evaporated milk that you used to have.  It’s not something you tend to see too often now though.  However tinned fruit is not just tasty and convenient, but it’s a good source of vitamins and minerals.  A product no longer confined to just grabbing the tin opener, opening the tin and pouring the contents into a bowl before smothering it with evaporated milk or ice cream; or simply just placing a ring of pineapple on to your gammon steak; you can use it in many different recipes, to prepare delicious food without the faff and fuss of having to peel, slice and prepare it yourself.

Del Monte canned fruit

I’ve adapted a baked cheesecake recipe that I use and have incorporated a tin of Del Monte pears which pair perfectly with almonds and Amaretto for an added depth of flavour.

Del Monte canned fruit

Base:

  • 50g Unsalted butter
  • 8 Digestive biscuits, crushed

Cheesecake:

  • 400g Philadelphia Cheese
  • 250g Mascarpone Cheese
  • 410g Del Monte tinned pears, drained
  • 3 Eggs
  • 60ml Amaretto
  • 15g Ground almonds
  • 75g Caster sugar
  1. Heat the oven to 190ºC (170º Fan).
  2. Line a 20cm / 8” spring form tin with baking parchment.
  3. Melt the butter, add this to the crushed biscuits and mix together thoroughly.

Del Monte canned fruit

  1. Pour this biscuit mixture into the base of your prepared tin and press down evenly.

Del Monte canned fruit

  1. Place in the fridge to cool whilst you prepare your cheesecake filling.
  2. In a food processor, add 150g of the drained pears, the Philadelphia and mascarpone cheeses, the eggs, Amaretto, almonds and the sugar.  I find that using my Kenwood food processor makes this an incredibly easy and quick process
  3. Blitz these together until smooth.

Del Monte canned fruit

  1. Drain the remaining pears from the juice and cut into approx. 5mm pieces.
  2. Stir the pear pieces into the cheesecake mixture to evenly distribute.
  3. Pour this mixture over the biscuit base in the tin.

Del Monte canned fruit

  1. Bake in the oven for approx. 40 mins until the top has started to colour and there is still a very slight ‘wobble’ in the middle of the cheesecake.

Del Monte canned fruit

  1. Turn off the oven, but leave the cheesecake in there, with the door slightly open until it’s cooled completely. (Leaving the cheesecake to cool slowly in the oven allows it set fully and prevents it from cracking).
  2. Remove the cheesecake from the tin and serve, cut in to small slices.

Del Monte canned fruit

I was sent a selection of canned fruits from Del Monte along with a gift voucher to purchase additional ingredients with to develop this recipe. 

Tiramisu Coffee Cake

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It’s my husband’s birthday today and his requested treat was for a tiramisu, however I’ve made (& we’ve eaten) one over the Christmas / New Year period already, and birthdays are all about a cake, after all, aren’t they?  So, with this in mind, I dug out my recipe notebook and went to find a recipe that I came up with a couple of years ago and made him a tiramisu inspired coffee cake instead; therefore we both win – he gets his tiramisu, and I get to make a cake!  Here’s how:

280g Butter

280g Caster Sugar

280g Self Raising Flour

5 Eggs

5ml Baking Powder

15ml Camp coffee essence

2.5ml Nielsen Massey Coffee extract

To drizzle the cake with:

10ml Instant coffee

10ml Hot water

20ml Amaretto

Frosting:

250g Mascarpone cheesse

150ml Double cream

60ml Amaretto

5 Tbs icing sugar

To decorate:

Cocoa powder

Tiramisu coffee cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃.

2. Grease & line two 20cm/8″ round cake tins.

3. Using the all in one method, to a large bowl, add the butter, caster sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, Camp coffee and coffee extract.  Using the all in one method, beat together until well combined (about 4-5 minutes).

4. Divide equally between your two cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked.

5. Remove from the oven, allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then remove from the tins onto a wire cooling rack until cold.

Tiramisu coffee cake

6. Mix together the instant coffee and water, stir until dissolved.  Add the amaretto and leave to cool.

7. For the frosting, beat together the mascarpone cheese, cream, amaretto and icing sugar.

8. Place half of the cake onto a serving plate and drizzle with half of the coffee and amaretto.

9. Spread the cake half with about a third of the mascarpone cheese frosting.

10. Top with the other half of the cake and drizzle this with the remaining half of the coffee and amaretto mixture.

11. Spread the cake with the remaining mascarpone cheese frosting and dust the cake with the cocoa.

Tiramisu coffee cake

12. Serve without guilt or attention to calorific value.  Just enjoy!

Tiramisu coffee cake

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