There are days when I want to wake early, do a 5km power walk, enjoy a healthy breakfast, drink loads of water and eat bowls of leafy greens for lunch and dinner.

And then there are days when I want to stay in my PJ’s, bake this Lemon Polenta Cake, invite a friend over and sit on the lounge watching the classic foodie movie ‘Julie and Julia.’

I keep trying to compile a list of my all time favourite cakes. The list changes from time to time as my tastes change, but always, always, always, a sticky, moist lemony cake of some kind is right near the top.

One of the things I love about this cake is that she is not at all fancy to look at – no-one is going to ooh and ahh when they see it sitting on the bench. But what it lacks in beauty, it more than makes up for in taste. I would choose a yummy cake over a good looking cake any day of the week.

This recipe is a Nigella Lawson classic. I love what she says about it – “If you wanted to imagine what lemon curd would taste like in cake form, then this would be it.”

I totally agree.

Ingredients

200gm unsalted butter, softened

200gm castor sugar

200gm almond meal

100gm polenta (cornmeal)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3 eggs

Zest of 2 lemons

Syrup

Juice of 2 lemons

125gm icing sugar

Method

Line the base of 23cm springform cake tin with baking paper, and lightly grease the sides of the tin with butter.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees fan forced).

Beat the butter and sugar with electric beaters until pale and creamy.

Mix together the almond meal, polenta and baking powder and beat some of this into the butter mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating continuously until it’s all combined.

Beat in the lemon zest.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until golden on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

Leave in it’s tin to cool, but place the tin on a cooling rack.

To make the syrup, place the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Boil until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup seems a little thicker.

Prick the cake all over with a cake tester and pour the syrup over the still warm cake.

Leave to cool in it’s tin.

This cake, if not eaten all at once, will last for 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Gently reheat pieces in a microwave  to freshen slightly.