Lemon and Pistachio Polenta Cake

As the only person in my school studying french, a lot of people ask me why on earth I want to do languages (french and italian to  be precise)? I have many answers to that question and I won't bore you with them all now, but there is one in particular that relates nicely to this post. I have a certain romantic love for the Italian culture and way of life, their focus on family and their seeming ability to confront even the toughest problem with an elaborate hand gesture. Times may have changed and this may merely be a naive ideal, but this enviable self assuredness and inner serenity is epitomised by a lovely italian phrase: Il dolce far niente - it was made popular in England by the book/film Eat Pray Love and   simply means 'the sweetness of doing nothing'. It is not, as it may seem, that I am seeking a life of laziness, it is more an admiration for this ability to occasionally choose to relax, to take a decadent moment to yourself and not feel guilty. It's a little mantra that I'm trying to occasionally implement, I seem to waste evenings doing random, unnecessary jobs because they make me feel purposeful, and thus without guilt. But is it really so bad to take 10 minutes and just sit, just think? To accompany this decadent moment, a suitably luxurious cake seemed necessary (eating probably breaks the rules of 'nothing' but I think it's a positive addition!). Pinching another european culture - espresso and cake in the morning, I thought that this citrusy Lemon and Pistachio Polenta Cake would be the perfect partner.

Recipe adapted from Anna Jones' Pistachio Yoghurt and Elderflower Cake in the May/June Jamie Magazine 2011

Ingredients:

Cake

125g margarine

125g caster sugar

75g roughly chopped pistachios

50g ground almonds

100g polenta

1tbsp natural yoghurt

1 and a half large eggs (sorry, I know that's awkward, 2 small would probably work - I had halved the recipe so as to create a traybake rather than a sliceable cake)

Zest and juice of half a lemon

Drizzle Topping

4tbsp caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 fan and grease & line a 20cm/20cm square cake tin
• Beat sugar and marg until light and fluffy.
• Add all other ingredients (except topping) and combine)
• Pour into tin and cook for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 150 degrees and cook for a further 20 minutes.
• Prick the top with a fork and pour over the topping (having stirred the two ingredients together).
• Leave to cool completely and slice to serve.

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