I adapted this idea from Jamie Oliver. I loved the simplicity, and first time i made this cake true to his ingredients, although i thought it was little too much. For past … hmmm … 3 years i don't use sugar in cooking anymore, and I am also more conscious of sustainable food, and so alternative came. I omitted sugar, half the butter and replaced 1 egg with flax egg. 

200 g unsalted butter , at room temperature (i used 5 tbsp butter and 5 tbsp olive oil)

200 g demerara sugar (i used 1/2 c date sugar and some honey - 3 tbsp)

3 large eggs (i used 2 and 1 flax egg, or you can use just flax eggs) 

1 ts vanilla essence, cinnamon, cloves (or 5 spice blend), 1/2 ts almond essence

200 g ground almonds

100 g polenta

4 oranges , zest and juice separately 

1 thumb ginger (grated and soaked in tbsp of honey)

1/2 ts baking powder and 1/2 ts baking soda, 1/4 ts salt

for glaze:

goji berries (3 tbsp grind and few whole for decorating), honey and juice from oranges

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°FGrease a 20cm springform tin, or use parchment paper

Beat the butter, oil and date sugar in a large bowl, don’t worry if it looks gritty, as the sugar will dissolve when it’s cooked. Beat in the eggs, one by one, and the flax egg. Then stir in the vanilla essence, ginger, orange zest and spices.

In a small bowl, combine the ground almonds, polenta, baking powder and soda, salt then stir this into the cake mix, if you think its too thick you can add a little OJ. Also taste a little and see if its sweet enough. If you like a little more, add some honey but don't forget that the glaze will give it some more sweetness. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes, until the surface is light brown and the cake is coming away slightly from the sides of the tin. Don't dry it out, we want the cake to be nice and moist.

Remove the tin from the oven, leave to cool for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Gluten free cakes tend to be soft and so its really important to give it time cooling off. 

To make the glaze, put all of the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over a low–medium heat until reduced and thickened slightly, it should take about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Prick the cake all over with a skewer, then brush generously with the syrup. Decorate with orange or lemon slices and goji berries. 

tips: adding flax to cake is simply great, it replaces a little flour, helps digest as it is great source of fiber. for more sweetness without sugar, really explore using vanilla and cinnamon, or some fruits, very often the recipes call for more sugar then its necessary … 

Oranges and ginger are winter time special in my kitchen, not only in food but also as decorations and scents.