Past, Present and Future

Here is a recipe to use up cornmeal or semolina that we may have lurking in our larders. This is best flavoured with oranges, but we could use lemons instead, or maybe both and then it can be called a 'St.Clement's Cake. Up to you. You will find - if you crack and measure 4 large eggs, they come to nearly half a pint, so if you have a mixture of different sized eggs, this is a good guide. ,
Orange Semolina Cake: serves at least 8
9 oz (250g) butter, pref unsalted
9 oz (250g) caster sugar
4 large eggs
5 oz (150g) semolina or cornmeal (aka polenta)
8 oz (200g) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
zest and juice of 2 oranges
an extra 4 oz (100g) caster sugar (for the glaze)
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in a teaspoon of the flour before beating in the eggs one at a time (adding flour helps to prevent the mixture curdling - not that it really matters). Sift the baking powder with the flour, and add this to the mix together with the semolina/cornmeal and the orange zest. Measure out roughly 4 fl oz (100ml) or orange juice and set this aside, then fold the remaining juice into the cake batter.
Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 9"/23cm round cake tin and level the surface, the bake at 170C, 325F, gas 3 for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. When baked, remove from the oven and turn out to cool on a cake airer.
Make a glaze by putting the reserved orange juice in a pan with the 4 oz/100g sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool, the drizzle this syrup over the top of the cake.