It was so summery recently that I baked this sunshiny dessert – my friend managed to eat three servings during an unexpected hailstorm, which goes to prove that this is delicious regardless of the weather; I hope you’ll agree.

There’s no flour in this recipe – polenta and ground almonds create a moist cake with a lovely texture and the addition of a sticky lemon syrup and berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or any combination thereof), means that this is more of a pudding than a cake and you’ll definitely need a fork and spoon to eat it with.

I serve it with extra fresh berries, with or without some plain Greek yogurt, creme  fraiche or whipped cream on the side.

POLENTA ALMOND CAKE with BERRIES and LEMON

(Makes 14-16 squares)

Ingredients:

6 oz (175g) of butter at room temp

8 oz (225g) of organic golden superfine/caster sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

5.25 oz (150g) of organic polenta

4 oz (100g) of ground almonds/almond meal

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of baking powder

14 oz (400g) or raspberries

11 oz (300g) of blackberries, blueberries or both

Finely shredded zest of 1 lemon and the juice of half

Action:

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)

Line a 9 inch (24cm) square shallow cake pan with baking parchment.

Cream the butter with 4 oz (175g) of the sugar until it’s pale and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs and polenta, beating well until thoroughly combined.

Fold in the ground almonds and baking powder – combine well then add the vanilla and lemon zest.

Using a large metal spoon, carefully fold in half of the berries (set aside the other half to serve with the cake).

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile make the lemon syrup:

In a small saucepan, bring the juice of half a lemon and the remaining 2 oz (50g) of sugar to a boil and simmer for a couple of minutes until it’s syrupy.

Once the cake is done, leave it in the baking pan and immediately pierce it all over with a small toothpick or skewer and pour the warm lemon syrup all over.

Cool the cake in the pan – invert, cut into squares, dust with some powdered sugar and serve with berries on the side and some optional whipped cream or Greek-style yoghurt.

My friend Donna and I ate cake and drank a bottle of Costco Champagne (yes, Costco have their own label French champagne that’s insanely inexpensive and very good) – and my wine-expert friend Maggie, who manages the Willits Wine & Liquor store in Basalt, recommends a lovely Italian organic Prosecco produced by Mionetto, that’s around the same price – both pair very well with this dessert and both go down very well on their own…. so get partying!