Rhubarb and Polenta Cake

Flicking through this month's Waitrose Food Magazine, I spotted a recipe for Sticky Rhubarb and Semolina Skillet Cake. I'd just bought some new season English rhubarb and scanning through the recipe, thought it looked an easy (ish) one to adapt for MEWS free. 

My Free From version on top of the magazine picture

I can't find an online recipe to give you a link, but I swapped the semolina for polenta, butter for dairy free margarine, yogurt for dairy free yogurt, and did a straight swap to gluten free flour. The only problem I could see being the eggs. I've never successfully replaced more than 1 egg in a recipe, even with egg replacer, and this needed 2! I didn't want it to taste of banana, so tried a combination of pear puree, egg replacer and flax egg. Seemed to work, might try without the egg replacer next time.

I think this might be the longest list of ingredients I've ever posted in a recipe (I usually try to keep it simple), but don't let that put you off.

Syrup

Juice of 1 Orange (Zest it first to add to cake)

125g Caster Sugar

125mls Water

Cake

40g Dairy and Soya Free Margarine

75g Caster Sugar

10 Cardamom Pods (seeds removed and crushed)

400g Rhubarb (cut into 4-5cm pieces)

225g Dairy and Soya Free Yogurt or Creme Fraiche

100mls Olive oil

100g Pear Puree

1tbsp Ground Flax Seed mixed with 2tbsp Water

45mls Milk Substitute

Zest of 1 Organge

160g Polenta

80g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

2tsp Egg Replacer

50g Ground Almonds

50g Caster Sugar (I'm pretty sure I forgot to add this)

30g Pistachio Nuts (Roughly Chopped)

Put the orange juice, water and caster sugar in a small pan. Stir then bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then set aside to cool (I decided mine was still too runny so put it back on and forgot about it… It had reduced to about half volume and was nice and syrupy by the time I realised).

Melt the margarine in a heavy based, oven proof, frying pan (I new there was a reason to keep the one the handle came off a few months ago!).

Add the sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle on the cardamom and top with the rhubarb.

Put the yogurt, oil, pear puree, flax seed mixture, milk substitute and orange zest in a jug or bowl and mix.

In a large bowl, weigh out the flour, polenta, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder and egg replacer. Mix together.

Pour in the liquid and mix well. 

Spoon onto the rhubarb and spread evenly over the top.

Bake on the oven at 180ºc for 40-50mins.

Remove from oven, pierce top with a skewer and pour over the syrup. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Turn out onto a plate to cool and top with the pistachio nuts.

Delicious served warm with custard.