So long now, the time runs by. I had a very nice trip to the UK and came back with many more ideas where to travel next. The local cuisine in Cornwall was actually very good. There where many café´s with gluten-free options and I also found some raw fudge (from rawchocpie) that was totally delicious. The Cornish people do eat beans for breakfast and I must say that it´s not too bad. I was very fond of it there. I made a vegan and gluten-free version of baked beans, this time with avocado and humus. But you will have to wait for that recipe some more time.
The cake recipe I am posting here is inspired by the almond polenta cake that is sold in so many café´s in north Cornwall. You find it in St. Ives, in Newquay and even in almost lonesome places at the coastline. I actually never ate it there, but I was constantly curious how it would taste like :) So I made one up. The occasion was an invitation from friends I got to know at a bonfire. They said I could bring something for dessert. So there was my motivation to do this cake I wanted to try so long, but did not until that time.
The fantastic fact about this cake is, that you don´t need an oven, nor a food processor. You just need one flame. I made the cake in my camping van so I am pretty sure you can do it on your stove at home, or in your boat, or in your van, or in front of your tent, or I have no Idea, but you can tell me :) Whereas I have to admit, that not everyone may be as crazy as I am traveling with such ingredients. But it´s always a good Idea to be ready to make things like this. Additionally I would claim that this cake is good for you (because of the lemon, the coconut, the chia seeds, the polenta…just so many good things).
Polenta Almond Cake
1 cup polenta
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup grounded almonds
1/2 cup plant milk (I used coconut milk)
1/2 lemon & also some of the peel
2 tablespoon chia seeds
2 tablespoon coconut oil and some more for baking
3 tablespoon agave sirup
pinch of salt
To prepare the cake you first heat up the water with the salt in a pot and add the polenta when it is boiling. Stir well and add the milk and the lemon. Stir some more and add all the other ingredients. Stir and stir.
Then heat a pan with some coconut oil and fill in the “dough” from your pot. Bake on medium to low heat until it is brown and a little crusty on each side (it took about 10 minutes each side for me). For turning the cake to the other side you can simply slip it on a plate, the place your pan upside down on the plate and make a 180 degree turn. I don´t really know if that description helped anyhow, but I used the technique I once learned for making spanish tortilla.
Now the fantastic cake is ready. You can eat it right away, but I suggest to wait until it has cooled down because it will be much more solid then.
So I hope you enjoy this or another cake or whatever you like to eat together with some friends and have a good time!
Cheers!