This version of the cake was borne, once again, out of trial and error. Just like my Baked Chocolate & Ginger Cheesecake, which I also had to completely re-do, this one was just as annoying.
Being a fan of all things Dr. Oetker gave me the idea on how to salvage this recipe. I had a bottle of Citrus Flavoured Strands, and that was the answer to my problem!
The original recipe included boiling orange and lemon slices in syrup to soften them, arranging fruit slices on the base of the tin, and then pouring the syrup over the base. After I cleaned up the mess which ensued, I did a bit of re-working, and came up with a much simpler version!
For the cake batter, you will need:-
8″ x 4″ cake tin, (I used a loose-bottomed tin) greased and lined on the base
125g butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon rind
220g caster sugar
3 eggs (room temperature)
60g finely ground hazelnuts
75g Plain Flour
75g Self Raising Flour
125g Polenta
80g Sour Cream
30ml Lemon Juice
30ml Orange Juice
Begin, as always by preheating your oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.
Place the butter, and sugar in a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little flour, to prevent curdling. Add the hazelnuts, the rest of the flour, polenta, sour cream, and juices. Give this a quick mix until all the ingredients are combined.
Pour the mixture into your tin, and bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. Leave the cake to cool for about 15 minutes before turning out.
If the cake has risen slightly, trim this off, in order to decorate the top. For this, I warmed through 2 tablespoons of lemon curd in the micro-wave and painted this over the top of the cake, and sprinkled on quite a lot of citrus flavoured strands.
Serve, on its own, or accompanied by a little fresh cream or custard.
Enjoy!
Cakes, Bakes, and other Bits 
This looks really delicious, Colette! I love the idea of using polenta for a cake but I've never been brave enough to try. This could be the recipe that makes me take the plunge!
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Thank you, Aoife. The lemon curd over the top adds a little extra "zing" to the cake. If you try it, let me know what you think.
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