As food intolerances become more common, I find that many people are looking for recipes that avoid wheat. It can be hard to find a truly delicious cake that doesn't contain any flour. Yes, you can buy a gluten free cake but sadly I find them disappointing .

In my latest book The Fussy Eaters Recipe Book I have devoted a whole chapter to gluten free recipes. You can substitute wheat free and gluten free flours for plain flour in many of my recipes but there are always some that just don’t work. My advice is that it is generally best to substitute when there is a low ratio of flour to other ingredients as then you are less reliant on gluten in flour to hold the mixture together. 

Make sure that you use non stick tins that are well greased and lined as gluten free baked goods are always a little more fragile.  This lemon cake recipe is divine and certainly too good to miss even if you don’t have to avoid wheat. It makes a delicious dessert if you are having friends over for supper.

Ingredients

450g unsalted butter, softened
450g caster sugar
450g ground almonds
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs
Grated zest of 4 lemons
Juice of 1 lemon
225g polenta
1 tsp baking powder
Half tsp salt
Gluten-free flour for dusting

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 160C/300F/Gas 3. Butter and flour a 30 cm (12 in) round cake tin.  Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and light. Stir in the ground almonds and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the lemon zest and juice, polenta, baking powder and salt. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about 5O minutes or until set. The cake will be brown on top. 

Information

MAKES 10 PORTIONS