Light, fresh and zingy, the mint in this simple recipe lifts the lemon sponge to give another level of flavour - the perfect FODMAP recipe. The buckwheat flour addition reduces the amount of almonds, making it lower in FODMAPs and it uses olive oil instead of the usual butter too. Drizzle over the sticky syrup when the cake is still warm, to let it really soak in.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 160g brown sugar
- 80ml olive oil, plus a little for greasing
- Juice and zest of 2 lemons
- 190g polenta
- 45g ground almonds
- 30g buckwheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Leaves from 3 sprigs of mint, finely chopped
- For the syrup
- 50g brown sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 35ml water
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C (gas 2) and line and grease a 900g/2 lb loaf tin (approx. 23 x 13 x 7 cm) with a little olive oil.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and pour in the sugar. Beat together until light and creamy (keep going for about 4 minutes or so). Continue to whisk and slowly pour in the olive oil, until all of the oil is combined. Whisk in the lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, stir together the polenta, ground almonds, buckwheat flour, baking powder and salt. Sieve this mixture over the eggs and sugar in stages, alternating with the lemon juice and folding until just combined.
Coat the mint leaves in a little buckwheat flour (this stops them from rising to the top as much) and add them to the bowl, gently folding once more until incorporated.
Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin (the batter should come roughly half way up the side of the tin) and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
To make the syrup, place the sugar in a small saucepan along with the lemon juice and water. Heat over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat, boil for 4 minutes until slightly reduced and syrupy, then remove from the heat.
Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool briefly in the tin. While it is still warm, turn it out of the tin, peel off the lining paper and put the loaf on a wire rack set over a baking tray or similar. Use a skewer, or a cocktail stick, to poke holes all over the surface of the warm cake. Pour the lemon syrup over the cake, letting it sink in.
Decorate with lemon slices, lemon zest and mint leaves.
