Today is an orange day....

Hello all!

I hope all is well with you out there in the world.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I felt the need to do some baking this weekend.... and I've been baking! It's a bit of an orange theme today... you'll see soon enough...

I had the morning to myself so I pulled out the aging Kenwood (which has been passed down to me from my mother and from my grandmother so it's knocking on a bit. Touch wood it's still working.) and decided to whip up a cake.

Now, my wonderful friend Mrs H in Cornwall made me the most amazing orange cake for my birthday last month and I really fancied making it. Unfortunately I didn't get the recipe but I'm sure I can prise it out of her! So I searched through a few sites and books and kinda concocted my own.

So, here is The Pengelly Bellys Orange Polenta Cake with Rosemary Syrup.

Ingredients:
2 oranges, diced but with skin on, pips removed
4oz margarine
4oz caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
6oz polenta
3tsp baking powder

Heat oven to GM 4/ 180C. Grease an 8" cake tin (or cheat like me and use a tinfoil one!)

1. Place chopped oranges into a food processor and blitz to a pulp. Leave to one side.
2. In a clean bowl or mixer, cream together the sugar and margarine until light and fluffy.
3. Start to add the eggs slowly the the butter/sugar mixture.
4. Stir in the polenta and baking powder.
5. Stir in the orange pulp.
6. Pour batter into cake tin.
7. Place in oven - first 10minutes at 180C, then reduce to 170C for 40minutes.
8. Leave to cool in the tin.

To make the rosemary syrup, add 200g caster sugar, 200ml of water and two sprigs of water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10minutes. Slowly pour over the cake and it will absorb all the the syrup. Leave for absorb for 30minutes before taking out of the cake tin.

Pouring the rosemary syrup onto the cake...

I've got a lovely retro orange glass cake stand that my mother gave me and it fitted the occasion perfectly, along with the orange stripey tablecloth and clashing flowers!

I love this dish soooo much!

Orange lovelyness

The first slice, moist and yummy...

...and all cake shots deserve a close up!

Cake update... mmm there's not much left of it after one day! Mr P seems to like it served warm with a dollop of yoghurt and honey!

Give it a go! I think it will also work well with lemons!

Cheers for now xoxox