Lemon Polenta Cake (with Mashed Potato)

We had bangers and mash twice over the last week or so and there were still potatoes left. A couple of years ago Mr VST's cousin and her now husband came to visit. She is coeliac and we are vegetarian so it was tricky to find something that we could all eat. I made us dahl and gluten-free lemon drizzle cake for pudding.

Ingredients

Cake:

200g butter, softened

200g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
175g ground almonds or polenta (or a mix of both)
250g mashed potatoes
zest 3 lemons
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

Drizzle:
Juice of one lemon

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Method:

1. So it starts off pretty normal, cream together the butter and sugar.

 2. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix in well.

 3. Add the ground almonds or polenta or mix of the two as in my case today as well as the lemon zest and the baking powder.

 4. Here's where is gets a bit strange, you then add the mashed potato. Make sure you mix it in well.

 5. Put the batter into a greased pan (mine was 23cm the original recipe suggests 20cm) and smooth down the top. Bake at 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 for 40-45 mins.

6. Turn out onto a wire rack after 10 minutes cooling. Mix the granulated sugar and the lemon juice together, then spoon over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Let the cake cool completely before slicing. You end up with an incredibly moist and delicious lemon polenta cake.

 Ta da!

The polenta I used was very fine and so the cake doesn't have that grainy texture that some lemon polenta cakes have. 

Vegetarians as guests....

Do you dread having vegetarians as guests? Whenever I have guests with special dietary requirements I usually enjoy the challenge of being out of my comfort zone cooking-wise. When Mr VST's coeliac cousin came to stay I served Dahl (which seems to be every diet proof) and made this gluten-free lemon drizzle cake with mashed potato, yes MASHED POTATO, warm for pudding with cream, it was absolutely delicious.

This weekend we were the dreaded vegetarian guests but our hosts did their usual wonderful job. Mr VST was doing the hell runner at Longmoor and we went to stay with our friends in Somerset so that we were (a bit) closer to Longmoor. Friday night's carbo-load was pasta and sauce with chunky roasted veggies and goat's cheese - delicious.

We got up to have the breakfast of champions (baked beans on toast) at an un-Godly hour for a Saturday and then made our way through the Winter wonderland to Longmoor. When we got there the ground was frozen as was the water in the bog of doom! Being the supportive wife I carried bags, cheered on when Mr VST started, got out of the bog and finished and provided him with a hot chocolate to warm up.

Here are some of the Hell Runners coming out of the Bog of Doom.

We had a couple of cheese and pickle sandwiches and delicious sticky toffee cake and chocolate brownie with thick chocolate butter icing on top to get us back to our friends' house.

When we got back we had pizza and chips and then later in the evening as we all were collapsed in a heap we nibbled on cheese and biscuits.

I also extensively sampled out hosts tea collection. Mr Host had bought himself the kind of tea box that is usually seen only in hotels and filled it with every kind of herbal tea imaginable. I was very jealous of his box. I think it may be going on my Christmas list!