When our neighbour returned from her holiday in Greece, she bought us a wonderful jar of Greek honey as a gift for watering her plants. This gave me just the excuse I needed to bake this moist and crunchy cake, so reminiscent of the honey-drenched cakes eaten whilst on summer holidays in the Greek Islands.
serves: 8 to 10
preparation: 25 minutes
baking: 50 minutes
cooling: 30 minutes
freeze: Yes
for the cake mixture
50g (2oz) pine nuts, plus 1 tablespoon for topping
115g (4oz) dairy-free spread
80g (3oz) caster sugar
80g (3oz) runny honey Grated zest of 1 orange
2 large eggs, beaten
175g (6oz) wheat- and gluten-free plain flour
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp xanthan gum
75ml (2½fl oz) soya/rice/almond milk
50g (2oz) coarse polenta
for the orange syrup
2 tbsp runny honey
Juice of 1 orange
equipment
20cm (8 inch) deep round tin
* Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/Gas 3. Grease and line the base and the sides of the cake tin.
* Toast 50g (2oz) of the pine nuts on a baking tray in the oven for approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Keep an eye on them because they can go from nicely browned to burnt very quickly. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
* In a large mixing bowl, use a hand-held electric mixer on a high setting to cream the dairy-free spread, sugar, honey and orange zest together for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
* Gradually add the beaten eggs on a medium setting. Don’t worry if the mixture curdles slightly; you can turn the mixer setting up to high for a few seconds and the mixture will become smooth again.
* Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinammon and xanthan gum into the mixture. Slowly fold in with the pine nuts using a large metal spoon so you don’t knock the air out.
* Slowly fold in half the milk, then fold in half the polenta, the remaining half of milk and then the remaining half of the polenta.
* Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, levelling the surface with the back of a dessert spoon and making a small dip in the middle to stop the cake peaking whilst baking. Scatter the remaining tablespoon of untoasted pine nuts over the surface of the mixture.
* Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until slightly risen, golden and firm to the touch.
* Whilst the cake is baking, make the syrup by mixing the runny honey and orange juice together in a small heavy-based saucepan. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes without stirring. The syrup will not be thick and sticky, but it will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Leave to cool slightly.
* Remove the cake from the oven, leaving it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a metal cooling rack over a large serving plate.
* Whilst the cake is still warm, prick it all over with a metal skewer, being careful not to pierce the bottom of the cake, and carefully pour over the syrup. Be patient and let the syrup slowly soak into the cake. Any that dribbles off will collect on the plate and can be used again.
tip: If you can, use a dark runny Greek honey. If not, an English runny honey will be fine; it just won’t have that distinctive Greek taste and aroma.