CAKE IN THE HOUSE

The tartness from the apple, warmth from the cinnamon and slight crunch of polenta makes this an excellent any-time-of-day cake.

APPLE AND CINNAMON POLENTA CAKE WITH MAPLE SYRUP Serves 8-10

200g butter, softened

200g caster sugar

3 eggs

200g ground almonds

100g polenta

2 tbsp cornflour

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

200g cooking apples, peeled and cored

20g flaked almonds

100ml maple syrup

1 Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/

Gas 4. Meanwhile, grease and line a 23cm loose-bottomed or springform cake tin with baking paper.

2 In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

3 Combine the ground almonds, polenta, cornflour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl, and mix well. Lightly fold the dry mixture into the butter, sugar and egg mixture until just smooth.

4 Cut the apple into small chunks, no bigger than 1cm. Fold through the cake batter and spoon into the prepared tin. Scatter over the flaked almonds and bake for 45 mins, or until golden.

5 As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, drizzle the maple syrup all over the top and leave to soak in for 10 mins before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Cook’s note: To make this nut-free, use desiccated coconut instead of ground almonds, but blitz them to a finer texture in a food processor. Similarly, swap the flaked almonds for coconut flakes.

Taken from The Flexible Baker: 75 Delicious Recipes with Adaptable Options for Glutenfree, Dairy-free, Nut-free and Vegan Bakes by Jo Pratt (White Lion Publishing). Photography: Malou Burger