Lemon polenta cake

• butter↗140g/5oz g

  softened, plus extra for the tin

• lemons↗2
• eggs↗3
• golden caster sugar↗250g/9oz g
• ground almond↗200g/7oz g
• polenta↗175g/6oz g

  or fine cornmeal

• gluten-free baking powder↗1 tsp tsp
• mascarpone↗

  to serve

• golden caster sugar↗140g/5oz g
• lemon↗1

  juiced

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Butter a 23cm cake tin and heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the lemons in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, drain, pour over more cold water, then simmer for 1 hr until the lemons are really soft, topping up with more water if you need to. Drain the lemons well. When cool, halve them, remove the pips and blitz in a food processor to a purée.

2. 2

   Add all the other cake ingredients and carry on blitzing until you have a loose batter. Scrape the batter into the cake tin and bake for 40-50 mins until golden and starting to shrink away from the sides.

3. 3

   While the cake bakes, make the drizzle by mixing the sugar with the lemon juice. When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. While still warm, pour over the drizzle and leave to cool completely. Serve with mascarpone.