GINGER AND ORANGE POLENTA CAKE

I adore ginger, and it makes a winning combination with orange. Polenta is a traditional Italian cooked cornmeal and can be a combination of grains. It is used in many dishes, including desserts and porridge, but I like it in a cake, as it gives a moist, grainy texture.

SERVES 8

● 250g (9oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

● 250g (9oz) caster sugar

● 4 eggs, beaten

● 250g (9oz) ground almonds

● 175g (6oz) polenta

● 1tsp baking powder

● 1½tbsp ground ginger

● Finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange

● 4tbsp ginger syrup (from the stem ginger jar)

● 115g (4oz) icing sugar, sifted

● 2-3 stem ginger bulbs, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan

140°C/gas 3. Grease and baseline a 23cm (9in) springform tin with non-stick baking paper.

Measure the butter and caster sugar into a bowl. Whisk with an electric hand whisk until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, a little at a time, whisking until well incorporated. (The mixture might curdle a little at this point – don’t worry!) Gently fold in the ground almonds, polenta, baking powder, ground ginger and orange zest.

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1¼ hours, until pale golden and the cake is coming away from the sides of the tin.

Pour the orange juice over the warm cake and leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, to make the icing, mix the ginger syrup and sifted icing sugar together in a small bowl until smooth and thickish. Place the cooled cake on to a plate and spread the icing over the top using a palette knife. Scatter over the ginger pieces and leave to set for about 1 hour. Cut into 8 generous wedges.