Orange Polenta Cake

Gluten-free tea-time polenta cake!

Not being able to eat gluten should not mean that you can't enjoy cakes polenta (100% cornmeal and therefore with no gluten) can be used in a variety of ways but we particularly like this traditional Italian recipe for an orangey moist cake.

**Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease caused by intolerence to gluten which is found in wheat, barley and rye. 1 in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease for which there is no cure and they have to keep to a strict gluten-free diet for life

Orange and Polenta Cake

For an alternative try Chocolate Polenta Cake – leave out the juice and zest of the oranges and add 35g cocoa powder instead. Delicious! I recently made this cake. It was delicious and moist. I will try a lemon version of this too.

Ingredients
375g salted butter
375g caster sugar
360g ground almonds
5 large eggs
juice and finely-grated zest of four organic oranges
150g polenta

Method:

Line a deep cake tin with greaseproof baking paper and oil with butter. Cut the butter into small dice sized pieces and beat with the sugar in a large bowl. When the mixture is light and fluffy stir in the almonds. Beat the eggs together with the vanilla extract in a bowl and, stirring all the while, add the eggs to the butter mixture. Add the orange juice, orange zest, baking powder, polenta and a pinch of salt. Mix to a smooth batter.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin, tap to even it out. Put the tin in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 150 degC and cook for about 50 minutes until the cake has cooked through (you can check by putting a skewer through the middle of the cake when it comes out clean it should be cooked). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

Polenta

Tea with Mrs Simkins

Warmly Spiced and Wholesome Apple Cake 

Although there is no getting away from the fact that this is a cake, it is a good and wholesome one (and extremely delicious too) made with fresh eggs and butter, wholemeal flour and plenty of apple. Even the cinnamon is good for you: apparently, it may improve digestion, help relieve a blocked nose, ease muscle and joint pain, improve the circulation, help prevent gum disease and tooth decay, and kill certain types of bacteria! 

• 225g (8oz) wholemeal flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 110g (4oz) butter
• 110g (4oz) soft brown sugar, plus a little more for the top 250g 
• 3 eggs beaten
• (9oz) peeled, cored, apples (cooking, eating or a mixture of both)

You will need a greased loose bottomed 20cm (8 inch) cake tin

Preheat oven to 160C (fan ovens) or equivalent

Put the flour into a bowl, sieve the baking powder and spices over the top and give it all a good stir to ensure an even distribution.

Cut the butter into small dice and rub into the flour mixture and stir in the sugar. Blend in the eggs with a wooden spoon so that all the dry ingredients are moist and coated with egg: it will still look quite rough and crumbly.

Slice the apples in half and place flat side down on a board. Cut into slices of about ½ to ¾ of a centimetre. Save some of the neatest slices for the top of the cake and stir the rest into the cake mixture: some slices will break up but that’s fine. (You may find it easier to mix the apple in with your hands: if you wear any rings set with stones and have forgotten to take them off, now could be a very good time to remember!)

Smooth the top of the cake with the back of a metal spoon: wet the spoon to make it easier. Arrange the last of the apple slices over the top and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of sugar.

Cover loosely with greaseproof paper, tucking it underneath the tin to secure and bake in a preheated oven for approximately 1¼ hours, until springy to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave in the tin for a few moments, then remove and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight tin.

Eat warm or cold. 


http://www.mrssimkins.co.uk

Welcome

Afternoon Tea

The mania for tea had swept across England soon after it had become popular in Holland and imports rose five fold between 1699 and 1708, but it was not until Anna, the Duchess of Bedford (1788-1861) decided that the "sinking feeling" she experienced in the late afternoon called for the adoption of the European idea of 'tea service' and created, what we now call ‘tea time’.

She did this by inviting friends to join her for an additional summer meal at five o'clock in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu was simply bread and butter sandwiches and small cakes. It proved so popular she took the idea back to London with her, and it soon caught on. Of course, the afternoon ritual was as much centred around conversation and gossip as food and drink.

Eventually, two distinct forms of tea services evolved: ‘High Tea’ and ‘Low Tea’. Low tea being served in the ‘low’ part of the afternoon and was generally served in aristocratic homes of the wealthy, featuring tea and gourmet delights – again the emphasis was on presentation and conversation. ‘High' Tea, also know as ‘Meat Tea’, was served with the main meal of the day.

The English Tea Garden

The idea of ‘Tea Gardens’ was inspired by Dutch ‘tavern garden teas’. Ladies and gentlemen took tea outdoors with entertainment and diversions, such as concerts, arbors, flowered walks, bowling greens and gambling.

A typical colonial tea garden

Women were permitted to enter mixed public gatherings for the first time without social criticism. It was at Tea Garden events that the custom of 'tipping' was developed as a method of ensuring prompt service. In fact, each table had a small wooden box with the letters ‘T.I.P.S.’ inscribed on them. The letters stood for: ‘To Insure Prompt Service’.

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Tea Gardens where highly popular in England throughout the twentieth century and although they are now somewhat scarce, they still remain popular today.

Tea Rooms, Tea Courts, and Tea Dances

In the late 1880's, fine hotels in England and America began to offer ‘tea service’ in Tea Rooms and Tea Courts. Tea was served in the late afternoon to Victorian ladies and gentlemen who could meet for for tea, conversation and gossip in a socially acceptable way.

A typical tea room

By 1910, hotels began to host Tea Dances in the afternoon as various dance crazes began to rival the obsession for tea. These were very popular among younger people who used them to meet members of the opposite sex.

http://www.victorianteashop.co.uk/history.html