Bursting with the delicious flavours of the Mediterranean, this Orange, Pistachio and Honey Polenta Cake, is naturally gluten free, dairy free AND refined sugar free. It’s also very easy to make and, of course, totally delicious!
This cake began with a desire to create something a little bit different for Mother’s Day…when you google Mother’s day recipes, the results are a little bit depressing – put it this way, there is a lot of salmon, Victoria sandwich cakes and petits fours!
Not that I have anything against salmon, Victoria sandwich cakes and petits fours, but it all feels very clichéd. I wanted to do something a little bit different…something I would enjoy and, I hope, so would other mothers too. But also something easy – so it could be made FOR the mother in question and not BY her! (Yes I realise that lots of sons/daughters/kids/dads etc. are super competent at making cakes, but lots aren’t! My hubby has a total aversion to making cakes, so consequently I never get cakes on my birthday or Mother’s Day, as my kids aren’t old enough to make them by themselves yet (though give my daughter a year or two…) But seriously this cake is so simple even my husband could make it!)
And then, whilst I was still pondering what to make, we went to ASK Italian as a family and they have on the dessert menu the most amazing Pistachio and Olive Oil Cake. Now, I like cake, but I don’t normally love cake, but this cake I was totally blown away by…it was amazing and so I decided, then and there, that that is what I would like to make as my Mother’s Day recipe this year.
But this cake is much too nice to be made just once for Mother’s Day. I think it would also make an amazing Easter cake or really for any time when you need an easy but celebratory kind of cake!
And oh this cake is so easy…no creaming, no folding, no faffing about at all – just mix together the wet and the dry ingredients and put in the oven. Ten minutes prep…tops!
In fact, the only thing that is likely to slow you down is chopping the pistachios…which is a bit of a long job by hand (though you could try the bashing with a rolling pin in a plastic bag trick), but if you have a nut grinder, food processor or blender that can handle the job then it is easy peasy. I used my new favourite toy – my Froothie Optimum G2.3 Blender and it was amazing – literally 3 presses of the pulse button and 250g pistachios turned to dust. I am more and more impressed with this fab machine as I go along (do read my Froothie Optimum G2.3 Blender Review for more info).
Once the cake is cooked (which only takes 25-30 minutes) it is drizzled with an orange and honey syrup to make it super moist and extra delicious (and when I say syrup, I mean orange juice mixed with honey – but orange and honey syrup sounds fancier) and decorated with leftover pistachios and orange peel – which is the sort of cake decoration I love – it looks impressive, but is actually really ridiculously simple and A LOT of fun and impossible to get wrong.
Not only is this cake totally delicious and ridiculously easy to make, but it also just so happens to be gluten free (because I’ve used polenta, not flour), dairy free (because I’ve used olive oil, not butter) and refined sugar free (because I’ve used honey, not sugar). And because it’s not got vast amounts of sugary icing on top, it’s a lot lower in sugar than your average Mother’s day cake…and whilst I’m definitely not going to call this cake a health food, it’s actually got quite a bit of goodness going on there…which is a little bonus!
One little note about the olive oil – unless you REALLY like the taste of strong extra virgin olive oil, I recommend a milder one for this cake. I do really like the flavour extra virgin olive oil and so I loved it in this cake, but if you are not such a fan, I recommend going for a mild and fruity one, like this one from Napolina or this one from Filippo Berio, which doesn’t have such a dominant flavour.
And one quick note about the oranges – make sure you zest them BEFORE you juice them! It’s nigh on impossible to do it afterwards!
And whatever you do DON’T buy the pistachios in their shells…unless you actually WANT to spend hours shelling them. You can buy shelled pistachios (AKA pistachio kernels) easily from the supermarkets these days.
If you like this…
… then you are going to love:
Orange, Pistachio and Honey Polenta Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 200 g fine polenta
- 200 g pistachio kernels ground or chopped finely
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 4 eggs
- 175 ml honey
- 200 ml olive oil
Glaze
- Juice of 1 orange roughly 50ml/2floz
- 50 ml honey
Decoration
- 50 g pistachio kernels ground or chopped finely
- Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / 160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease a 20cm / 8inch cake tin with a little olive oil and line the base with baking paper. Grease the top of the baking paper with a little olive oil too.
- Mix all the polenta with 200g / 7oz ground/chopped pistachios and orange zest from 1 of the oranges in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the eggs, 175ml / 6floz honey, all the olive oil and the juice from 1 of the oranges in a large bowl or jug.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the batter into the greased and lined tin and cook in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the top is light gold and a skewer comes out clean.
- Just before the cake is ready to come out, mix 50ml / 2floz orange juice from the second orange with 50ml / 2floz honey and pour over the hot cake whilst still in the tin – leave for at least 10 minutes before removing the cake from the tin.
- Place the cake on a plate or a stand and decorate with remaining pistachios and orange zest.
Notes
Pin Orange, Pistachio and Honey Polenta Cake for later
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Karen says
This sounds delicious Eb! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Both my sister in laws are on gluten free diets and we’re having a family party at Easter so this could well be on the dessert table 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Karen – glad you like it! I have another couple of gluten free bakes coming up in the next few weeks, which you might like – watch this space!! Eb x
jessica matta says
Hi ☺️ I’m making this for mother’s day how long do you think it will keep?
I think I will make it Friday for Sunday? X
Eb Gargano says
Hi Jessica! Delighted you have chosen to make my cake for Mothers Day…it’s so perfect for that! Friday for Sunday should be fine. The syrup keeps it really moist. Might be better decorated nearer the time though. It will look fresher. I’d love to know how you get on and if it goes down well! Eb 🙂
Hilary says
I made the cake with half ground almonds, half pistachios. It really needed the syrup for flavour and otherwise was too dry.
Eb Gargano says
Yes, the syrup is a very important part of the cake – as you so rightly say, if you don’t use it the cake will be too dry and not flavoursome enough. Eb 🙂
Vicki Montague says
Love the look of this! Incredible. My kind of cake 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Vicki 🙂 I had a lot of fun creating and photographing this one 🙂 Eb x
jenny walters says
What a fabulous cake and stunning photos.Very sophisticated.Love the pistachio crumb.Really beautiful x
Jenny Paulin says
I made my first polenta cake earlier this year and it was so easy and made a lovely cake. This one of yours looks so pretty and the flavours sound amazing. Thank you for linking up to #BakeoftheWeek Eb x
Eb Gargano says
Polenta does make a lovely cake, doesn’t it? And it’s so easy – which, as you know, I am always a big fan of!! Thanks for your kind words 🙂 Eb x
Gillian Thompson says
This looks delicious. Love the flavour combination and the photos are amazing. I would like someone to bake this for me on Sunday, but I’ll probably have to make it myself!
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Gillian 🙂 Yep, it’s the same here. My kiddies are too small to make cakes by themselves and my husband is resolutely NOT a baker…it’s quite funny, he’s been on a work course this week and proudly told me he had made his first biscuit this week (as part of the team building they made biscuits)…his first biscuit EVER at the age of 37!! I made my first when I was 3!! 😀 Eb x
Rebecca says
I love orange in baking I have a recipe that was my nanny’s God bless her. Got the ingredients for this so defo giving it a go xxx
Eb Gargano says
Me too, it’s fab isn’t it? Especially when combined with honey, I find 🙂 Would love to know what you think of this if you make it! Eb x
Choclette says
This is beautiful Eb. I’ve made several very similar cakes, but I’ve never managed to make them look very good. You are an artist. Now I want a yummy piece of cake!
Pinned, flipped & yummed.
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Choclette 🙂 I am definitely no artist!! I am just good at dreaming up ways of making food look pretty without artistic skills…using the leftover ground pistachios worked a treat and was totally easy peasy!! Eb x
Nicole says
Yum! Definitely trying this over the weekend. Do you think almonds would work as well as pistachios (it’s our only safe tree nut so far)?
Eb Gargano says
I’m pretty sure almonds would work fine…never tested it but almonds have always worked well in other cakes I’ve made…go for it! And do let me know how it works out!! 🙂 Eb x
Mandy says
Oh this sounds utterly delicious Eb – I love this kind of cake and would be over the moon if someone made this for me on any occasion! Sounds like the blender did a great job of grinding down the nuts too – I’m yet to try that function in mine.
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Mandy 🙂 The blender did a fantastic job with the nuts – I was seriously impressed. Doing cakes and things with pistachios and other nuts has been something I’ve wanted to do for ages but never really had a way of grinding the nuts – none of my other gadgets were up to the task. But now with my lovely Froothie a whole world of possibilities has opened up for me!! I definitely want to try nut butters and milks too. Eb x
Corina says
This cake sounds so tasty Eb! It’s definitely the kind of cake I’d love someone to make for me for mother’s day.
Eb Gargano says
Me too, Corina…do you think putting it on my blog is a big enough hint??? 😀 Eb x
Jan Bennett says
I’m not a fan of any kind of cake but this looks seriously good!
Eb Gargano says
Aaah thanks Jan – if you are not much of a fan of cake, then this is high praise indeed!! Eb x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
Ooh this sounds absolutely delicious Eb. I’ve been meaning to make an olive oil cake for ages now, especially as my mum leans heavily towards the healthier fats . I love the flavour combo that you’ve used, I can just imagine how good it tastes,
Angela x
Eb Gargano says
Thanks, Angela. It really works well in cakes and perfect if you are trying to avoid butter/marge etc…plus there is no ‘oh no I forgot to get the butter out of the fridge’ drama – which always happens in my house…though I do have a rather nifty Mary Berry tip for getting round that one. Still pouring out olive oil is much easier than creaming butter!! Eb x
Charlotte Oates says
This sounds amazing Eb (and such pretty pictures too), I love nutty cakes they have such a lovely flavour and texture.
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Charlotte 🙂 They do have a really great texture don’t they? This one is especially nice as it has that nutty texture, but is really moist from the orange and honey syrup I’ve poured all over it! Thanks for the kind compliment about my photos – I did have rather a lot of fun throwing pistachio dust and orange peel around…love messy photo shoots!! Eb x
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oh Eb this cake looks and sounds amazing! Stunning pictures! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Kirsty 🙂 Eb x
Kate - gluten free alchemist says
Delicious Cake. Beautiful photos. Simple, but so effective. Love this xx
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Kate…that’s my favourite kind of cooking…simple to do, but looks good and tastes even better! 🙂 Eb x
Mel says
Olive oil, nuts, honey…. of course you can call this little beauty healthy food! I’ve never used polenta in cakes and you’ve inspired me! It looks absolutely gorgeous, and I’m sure it will taste even better if it’s made FOR you for Mother’s Day 🙂 Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
Eb Gargano says
Haha – well it does have lots of healthy components, I hesitate to call anything with lots of sugar (albeit in honey form) a health food, but as cake goes it’s a pretty healthy one! Oooh you should try polenta – it’s so easy to cook with and a great gluten free alternative…and tastes delicious! Eb x
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
This cake looks so vibrant and I love the colours!
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Kat 🙂 Eb x
Kate | Veggie Desserts says
This is such a beautiful looking cake and the flavours sound divine! I love the pistachio dust on it as well 🙂
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Kate 🙂 The pistachio dust is the perfect kind of decoration for me…easy, fun to do, impossible to get wrong…and uses up leftovers! Plus it looks pretty. I did have far to much fun creating and photographing this one! 😀 Eb x
Nicole says
The orange, pistachio and honey, with polenta! – such fabulous flavours, and so Sicilian – I can’t wait to try it!
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Nicole – I LOVE Sicilian food!! Do let me know what you think if you try it 🙂 Eb x
Rose says
Hi, will this cake be suitable to use for 1st Communion. My daughter loves polenta . If so, can I use frosting? I am not sure what frosting will go with polenta . Fondant? We dont like fondant but just maybe for decoration purposes? May I please have your advise?
Eb Gargano says
Hi Rose, I am honoured that you have chosen my cake for your daughter’s first communion! Hmmm – if I were to frost this cake I would probably choose a really simple frosting of icing (confectioners) sugar and fresh orange juice…and then topped with the pistachios and orange peel, but if it’s for an occasion and you need to have more of a ‘decorated’ cake with words on etc. then I guess fondant would be the way to go – but I am with you on the taste – I usually peel it off when I’m actually eating the cake!! I do hope it is a wonderful day for your daughter and that the cake is well received. Eb x
Rose says
Hi Eb, thanks a lot for your reply. I will let you know when her 1st Communion day comes and how I did with the cake. God bless!
Rose
Eb Gargano says
A pleasure Rose. I hope it is a wonderful day for all of you and that the cake is a real success! God bless you too. Eb x
Cal says
Hi if I omit the orange, which liquid would you suggest and how much to substitute for the orange juice?
Eb Gargano says
Hmm – the orange is a pretty major flavour in this cake, so switching it out could be tricky…if you are OK with other citrus fruits I would suggest using lemon juice (or maybe grapefruit juice)…the same quantity as orange juice. If citrus is a no-no then you could try apple juice, maybe…or even just plain water? But I’m not sure it would taste quite as nice. Do let me know what you try and how well it works! Eb 🙂
Jane says
Has anyone actually MADE this cake? Every comment says how good it ‘looks’ or ‘sounds’. I am cooking it as I arite and it is in the overn at 160C fan but after 30 mins it is still very sloppy in the middle. I am a bit concerned. Advise please.
Eb Gargano says
Hi Jane, sorry I’ve only just spotted this comment – I hope it turned out OK!! I cook this cake for 30 mins at 160C fan and it’s perfectly cooked, but unfortunately ovens do vary a little, which is why I say ‘until a skewer comes out clean’ – your oven may be a fraction cooler than mine, so if that’s the case keep cooking until the skewer comes out clean. Another time you may want to increase the temperature by 5 or even 10 degrees. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂
Yasmine says
I just made this cake and it tastes absolutely delicious! I mean wow! This was my first time cooking with polenta and so very pleased with the outcome. I’m so glad I stumbled on your recipe! Will definitely be checking out what other surprises you have on your site!
Eb Gargano says
Thank you so much, Yasmine, for this lovely comment – you just made my day! I’m so pleased it turned out so well for you and I really hope you find more recipes you like on my site. Eb 🙂
Lara says
Hi Eb, I just made this cake and I’m sorry to say it was a total disaster taste and texture wise! It was so ridiculously dry, and has put me off making a vegan/healthier cake again, particularly as this was my first time baking a cake with polenta. I can’t explain how disappointed I was to not be able to taste a moist orangey goodness against the pistachios, my mouth was watering imaging how this would taste but I have been sorely disappointed. The cake took over an hour to bake in our basic gas oven.
I now have a pretty looking cake that doesnt do justice to the taste – and I’m sad to say it will end up in the bin!
Eb Gargano says
Hi Lara – I’m really sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with this recipes. A couple of thoughts…
1. You say that you cooked the cake for over an hour (over twice what I recommend!) and it was really dry. I think the fact you cooked the cake for so long may explain why the cake was so dry. It might also explain why the taste was not quite what you were hoping for.
2. Did you use the glaze? The cake on it’s own is a little dry which is why I added the glaze- this should soak into the cake and make it lovely and moist.
3. I’m afraid in matters of taste it does come down to personal preference. Personally I love bold gutsy flavours and all my recipes reflect this. Plenty of other people have also said to me how much they love the flavours of this cake too. But we are all different – I am guessing your tastes are not the same as mine.
Again, I am sorry you did not have a good experience with this cake. I hope it will not put you off trying new recipes in the future.
Eb 🙂
S says
Made this morning and half the cake is already gone! Delicious!
Eb Gargano says
Oh yay! I am so happy to hear that ? Thanks for this lovely feedback and the 5* rating! Eb ?
Maria says
Delicious! The syrup is a must as you pointed out.
The outcome is lovely! The flavor is very autumnal which is perfect for this time of the year.
It is very dense and filling so perfect to keep me going during marathon season!
Thanks 😊
Eb Gargano says
Aw, yay – I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe so much! Thank you so much for leaving a review… and especially for the 5 star rating! Eb 🙂
Sumaya Petersen says
Hello, has anyone tried a vegan version!? If so what egg replacer did you use ?
Thank you
Eb Gargano says
Hi Sumaya! I have never personally tried making this recipe vegan, but when I make other vegan cakes I use chia seeds as my egg replacer – 1 chia egg per 1 normal egg… as per this recipe https://minimalistbaker.com/make-chia-egg/ and it always turns out well… as I say, I’ve never tried it with this recipe so I can’t promise good results, but it should work. Hope that helps and let us know how you get on! Eb 🙂
Gill says
I’ve cooked mine for 45 mins so far and skewers still coming out very wet – the top is lovely and brown so I’ve had to put foil on the top so it doesn’t burn. My fan oven usually “cooks hot” so I don’t want to turn the temp up. Also there was so much mixture it definitely wouldn’t have fitted in a 20cm tin – I had to use a 23cm loose bottomed one – luckily it has a good seal so didn’t leak. Expensive ingredients and it’s a birthday cake for tonight I hope it works out ok….
Eb Gargano says
I’m sorry to hear that and I am really at a loss to understand why the recipe is not working out as it should for you. Whenever I cook the recipe, it fits in a 20cm diameter tin and cooks in about 30 minutes at 160C fan. Given you have cooked it in a 23cm diameter tin and in an oven that cooks hot, I would have expected it to cook faster, not slower. The fact that it didn’t fit in a 20cm tin is ringing alarm bells for me, though… is there any possibility you used too much of one of the ingredients? Otherwise I can’t understand why it wouldn’t fit in a 20cm tin. (That tin in the pictures is definitely 20cm diameter – I just went and measured it to double check I hadn’t made a mistake – and you can see that the mixture fits in that tin no problem.) It’s the only thing I can think of that could have caused this problem… because then, of course, it would be a bigger cake and then it would make sense that it would take longer to cook. Otherwise I am at a loss to understand what could have gone wrong.