Nici Wickes: Little polenta & raspberry cakes

As well as a savoury ingredient, polenta is a truly wonderful baking ingredient - it’s cornmeal so is GF and has so much texture. 

Serve these little beauties with whipped cream. 

GF syrup 

½ cup icing sugar 
Juice of 3 lemons (use zest in cakes) 

Cakes 

175g butter, softened 
175g caster sugar 
2 large eggs 
80g fine instant polenta 
½ cup freeze-dried raspberries + extra for topping 
175g ground almonds 
¾ tsp baking powder 
Zest of 2 lemons 

Preheat oven to 150 C. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin and line each hole with a small square of baking paper.
Make syrup by simmering sugar and lemon juice together for 3-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Using a standing beater, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating between each. Fold in the polenta, raspberries, ground almonds, baking powder, lemon zest and juice.
Spoon batter into prepared tin and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and cake has begun to pull away from sides.
Once cooked, prick the top of each cake with a few small holes. Spoon over cooled syrup so that it soaks in. Leave cakes to settle for 5-7 minutes before removing and serving with whipped cream and a dusting of crushed freeze-dried raspberries.

Tip: 

Feel free to use this recipe to make one large cake using a lined 20cm spring form tin and cook for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 

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