RHUBARB, MARMALADE & ROSEMARY CAKE

SERVES 8–10

I love the way that flavours interconnect. Citrus fruits are good with the resinous flavour of rosemary (I adore rosemary in marmalade, both orange and grapefruit). Marmalade and rhubarb are good together in a bread-and-butter pudding. Could rhubarb also work with rosemary? It does. In this, all three ingredients are brought together.

225g unsalted butter, softened,

plus more for the tin

225g caster sugar

8 rosemary sprigs

125g ground almonds

3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten 200g marmalade, plus 40g for the glaze finely grated zest of 1 orange

100g plain flour

125g polenta

1 teaspoon baking powder

300g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Butter a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.

Put the sugar and 2 of the rosemary sprigs into a mortar and bash with a pestle for a couple of minutes, to help the rosemary infuse the sugar. Remove the sprigs, shaking off the sugar, and discard them.

Beat the butter and rosemary sugar together until pale and fluffy. Stir in the ground almonds, then beat the eggs in a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Fold in the marmalade, orange zest, flour, polenta, baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Lay three rosemary sprigs on the base of the prepared tin. Spoon in the batter and lay the rest of the rosemary on top.

Toss the rhubarb with the granulated sugar, then spread this on top.

Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. (You will need to cover the cake with foil in the last 20 minutes, as it can get quite dark.)

Gently heat the extra 40g of marmalade in a saucepan until it becomes syrupy (help to break it down by pressing with the back of a spoon), then push it through a sieve to remove any bits of zest. Leave it to set a little, just enough to make it easily spreadable then, using a pastry brush, brush the marmalade glaze thickly on top of the cake.

Leave to cool, then run a knife between the cake and its tin and carefully remove the cake, then the base of the tin and the baking paper. Slide on to a plate to serve.