Amaretto Cake with Roasted Figs

 

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This should really be called ‘booze cake with roasted fruits’ as really it is open to any of your favourite tipples and topped with any complementing fruit. In my recent craving to make a polenta cake and my mum’s imminent birthday, I ended up combining these two irresistible forces and making this amaretto soaked ‘pudding cake’. Courtesy of ‘Vogue Entertaining and Travel’ who’s magazines offer not only fantastic food porn photography but some great original recipes, I replaced masarala for amaretto and it was a huge success! There was also added relief as if you notice, it is in fact egg-less……but yes it sets and eats like a dream! Who’d have thought!?

Makes one large cake (Adapted from ‘Vogue Entertaining and Travel’)

  • 300g self raising flour
  • 110g polenta
  • 60g ground almonds
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 125g butter, chopped
  • 220g caster sugar
  • 300g soured cream
  • 250ml amaretto (or masala or another booze)
  • 4 large figs
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line a 26cm spring form cake tin.
  2. Sift the flour into a bowl and add the polenta, bicarb and almonds with a pinch of salt.
  3. Beat butter and caster sugar until fluffy and then stir in the soured cream by hand until just combined.
  4. Sift in the dry ingredients alteratively with the amaretto into the butter until just combined but don’t over-mix- it will be quick thick.
  5. Spoon into the tin, level and bake for about 50 minutes until cooked and then leave to cool. (Note: you may feel an urge to put your entire face into the cake and eat it-avoid)
  6. Once cool, top with sliced raw or roasted fresh fig halves, scatter with toasted almonds and dust with icing sugar.

Side Effects: Can cause over-consumption especially when eaten with homemade blackcurrant sorbet (see here)

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