After nearly three years of searching for the cause of my child’s ongoing symptoms following her diagnosis, we’ve finally identified the trigger: dairy. I’m frustrated that this took so long. For years I raised my concerns with her consultant, only to be told her symptoms couldn’t be related to dairy and were simply IBS.
Given she had a milk protein and egg allergy until age two, it didn’t seem unreasonable to suspect she might still react to dairy. When the professionals dismissed the idea, I decided to try a dairy-free trial myself. A few weeks ago I removed all dairy from my eldest’s diet. Within a week her symptoms vanished. We were cautious—her symptoms had always fluctuated—so we waited a few more weeks to be sure before celebrating. Now, nearly three years after her diagnosis, she’s finally having normal bowel movements. We’re all thrilled, and she was so excited she proudly announced her first “proper” toilet trip.
Enough about that—on to a great recipe. From now on my recipes will be both gluten- and dairy-free. This polenta cake is especially easy and forgiving if you’re new to gluten-free baking and don’t want to experiment with multiple flours. I adapted this version from a trusted site and tweaked it a little: tonight I used three tablespoons of orange marmalade and 50g less sugar, then split the cake and sandwiched it with butter icing and extra marmalade. The version below is delicious on its own or topped with fresh fruit.
Gluten and dairy-free lemon or orange polenta cake
Pin Recipe
Vicki Montague, the Free From Fairy
Ingredients
- 200 g dairy-free margarine
- 200 g white sugar – 150g if using marmalade
- 4 medium free-range eggs
- 200 g ground almonds
- 150 g fine maize meal or polenta – not the quick-cook variety
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon or orange plus the juice, or 3 tbsp marmalade
- Optional: 1/4 tsp almond extract
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
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Cream the dairy-free spread and sugar together until light and fluffy.
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Add the eggs, ground almonds, polenta, baking powder, citrus zest and juice (or marmalade) and mix until combined.
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Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed round cake tin and spoon in the batter, smoothing the top.
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Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the cake is just firm to the touch and golden on top.
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Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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Serve plain, or slice in two and fill with dairy-free buttercream and jam/marmalade. Alternatively, top with toasted flaked almonds, fresh raspberries or cooked rhubarb.
| A cupcake version…so versatile! |