Orange, Polenta + Yoghurt Cake

This week I intended on posting a recipe for Finnish Cardamom Buns. Unfortunately they were a huge a fail.

Many times over.

And I still don’t know where I went wrong. The yeast just did not do it’s job. I tried fresh yeast, dried yeast, different recipes. I even have the luxury of working for a brilliant baker. We chatted about the process at length but I could not seem to get the recipe to work.

It is still really bugging me. Those of you who know me would probably know how much I hate throwing food away. Throwing anything away for that matter.
Rips in my jeans, I’ll patch those. Patch upon patch.
Empty yoghurt containers, wash them, they come in handy.
Old socks, keep them. We can make puppets one day.
Scrap paper, let’s staple it together and make a notepad.
That’s just how I roll.
After throwing away countless batches of dead dough, I finally conceded that the recipe had defeated me. It was time to move onto something else to satisfy my sweet craving.

I decided to make an Orange, Polenta + Yoghurt Cake. Mainly because I had these ingredients around the house. I have been fairly unwell lately so there have not been many trips to the shops for supplies.

It is a very easy cake to pull together, and I have discovered it is also one of those ones which improves with age. I have never understood how that works, but sometimes it just does.
I generally do not frost my non-special occasion cakes; a dusting of icing sugar is all this one needs. You can serve it with a dollop of greek yoghurt, creme fraiche, double cream or plain,  just as I did.

If you noticed from the cover shot that my cake has large cracks in it, it is because I accidentally dropped it on the kitchen floor when removing it from the oven. What a dufus!
Of course I did not turf it.
I dusted it off and pretended that nothing ever happened. And it was delicious.

Orange, Polenta + Yoghurt Cake.

– 1 cup polenta
– 1 cup self raising flour
– 1/2 cup wholemeal self raising flour
– 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
– 1 cup caster sugar
– 3 eggs
– zest of 3 oranges (use a microplane)
– 1 cup full fat natural yoghurt
– 125g butter
– 4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.

Beat your sugar and eggs together for a few minutes, until pale.

Now add the butter and coconut oil and beat again.

Next add the yoghurt and orange zest and stir to combine – don’t fret if your batter is lumpy, it will all come together in the end. Add both your flours, the polenta and the baking powder and fold in gently, but thoroughly.

Pour the batter into a cake tin lined with baking paper, mine is a round one, 25cm in diameter. If yours is a different shape or size, you’ll need to keep an eye on it – your baking time might be little a bit different.

Bake for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean in the centre. Cool on a cake rack.

And don’t accidentally drop the cake on the floor.