Lemon Pumpkin Polenta Cake (Vegan, Gluten-free, Oil-free, Low-Fat)
Just recently I heard of so called polenta cake. The name is pretty much self-explaining: it is made with polenta! Why not, me thought and bravely combined it with freshly blended butternut squash, lemons and dates. And yes, it works! The texture of this vegan and gluten-free cake has a funny, fluffy feel to it and it is quite moist.
Equipment
- 8inch/ 17cm cake tin
- Blender
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 190 g fine polenta
- 70 g buckwheat flour
- 1 tablespoon psyllium fiber husk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1-2 pinch salt
- 200 g peeld raw butternut squash
- juice and zest of one lemon:
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 cup water
- 105 g dates pitted and diced
For the filling:
- 100 g peeld raw butternut squash
- 50 g dried apricots
- juice and zest of one lemon:
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- some coconut flour for sprinkles on top optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° C (top-/ bottom heat). Line the cake tin with baking paper.
- For the dough, place dates, lemon juice and water into high-speed blender and let soak for a little.
- In the meantime mix all dry ingredients for the dough in a medium sized bowl.
- Chop the butternut to smaller chunks, chuck it in the blender and blend everything to a fine paste.
- Pour lemon-date-pumpkin-mixture into the bowl with the ingredients and mix well. Make sure you don't stir it too long. Quickly transfer to the cake tin and spread it evenly.
- Place in the oven and bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean (about 10-15 minutes). Let rest in the form for a little before taking it out and letting it cool down completely on a cooling rack.
- In the meantime blend the apricots, lemon and butternut squash to a fine cream. Here it will also help to let the apricots soak in the lemon juice for a while.
- Once the cake has cooled down, cut it lengthwise into two and take the gently top off. I like to use a large serrated knife for this job. Spread the filling on the lower part of the cake and then gently replace the top part. I like to sprinkle it with some ground desiccated coconut flour :)
Notes
Enjoy! :)