Baking for Beginners: Lemon and Coconut Polenta Cake

Hello, my name is Elizabeth and I am the newest member of Domestic Sluttery. I have to say, I am utterly thrilled to be here and I am super-excited to get involved with all things Sluttery. I also blog at my personal lifestyle blog Rosalilium and you can find me on twitter @rosalilium_. But now, let's get onto the cake!

Autumn is my favourite season. It is the season for pulling out the cosy blankets, popping the heating on and enjoying copious amounts of tea and cake. It is the season for comfort as we head towards winter, and this cake is one of my comfort blankets. I love nothing more than idling down to the kitchen to scoop up a handful of this delicious crumbly cake as I pop the kettle on for my umpteenth cuppa of the day.

This sweet, buttery, lemon cake has a wonderful slightly coarser texture than your average sponge cake, and will stay fresh for at least 5 days. Perfect for preparing ahead of a tea party, gathering, or for impressing your mates when they come over to watch a bit of Saturday night telly. This is a gluten-free cake, so quids in for those of you are wheat-averse.

Lemon and Coconut Polenta Cake (makes 8 generous servings)

You will need:

For the cake:

• 200g softened unsalted butter (plus, a little more for greasing the tin)
• 200g caster sugar
• 120g fine polenta (unprepared. It's also sold as fine Corn Meal)
• 80g desiccated coconut
• 100g ground almonds
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder (gluten-free if you like)
• 3 large eggs
• Zest of 2 lemons

For syrup:

• Juice of 2 lemons
• 125g icing sugar

Make it!

• Grease a 9in round springform tin and preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
• Cream together the butter and sugar. This works best with very soft butter (I might have cheated and popped the butter into the microwave for 10 seconds).
• In a separate bowl mix together the ground almonds, polenta, coconut and baking powder.
• Next, add a third of the mixture and an egg to the sugary-butter mixture. Beat in well and then repeat with the following two eggs. The mixture should be just shy of fluffy.
• Just before adding to the baking tin, stir in the lemon zest.
• Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.
• The cake will be a delightful golden colour and beginning to shrink away from the edges.
• While the cake is cooling, make the syrup by boiling together the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small pan. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, prick the cake all over with a thin skewer (I used a sterilised hair pin) and pour the syrup over the cake.
• You should probably allow the cake to cool before serving, but if you are as impatient as me pop the kettle on and enjoy a delicious slice while its warm.