Manna is a supper club where we discuss various themes about faith.
Whilst wandering in the desert, the Israelites asked God to feed them.
In Hebrew Manna means 'bread of heaven' so along with bread, one of the other foods they received was quail 'that evening quail came' Exodus 16:13.
This past week we enjoyed another spiritual supper club, the theme of the evening was: 'Faith and Politics' - we looked at faith within all political arenas, nationally an internationally. We mainly talked though about the political landscape in the USA, the history of Christianity in the USA and how that has influenced, through the generations, peoples views of the Republican and Democratic parties.
Here's a comment from one of the guests 'thank you for a wonderful evening; the food was 5-star, and the conversation was stimulating and enjoyable' and from another guest, 'Wonderful food - stimulating conversation - great hospitality!
This is the recipe for the dessert we ate! Orange Polenta Cake
Ingredients
200g ground almonds
3 large eggs
200g butter
200g light brown sugar
100g polenta
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder (GF)
2 large oranges (zest and 2 tbsp of juice)
Method
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Mix the polenta, ground almonds and baking powder.
Into the butter and sugar mixture, add one egg at a time, with 2 tbsp of the dry ingredients. Blend well in between adding the eggs. Then add the vanilla, orange zest and juice and the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well.......until you have a smooth consistency.
Pour the mixture into a greased, parchment lined 20cm cake tin. Either with a spring side or loose bottom. Bake for 50 - 60 mins on 160C/320F/Gas 3. The cake should be coming away from the sides of the cake tin when cooked. While the cake is cooking make the syrup.
Syrup ingredients
220 ml freshly squeezed orange juice (3-4 large oranges)
100g light brown sugar
Method
Warm the orange juice and sugar together and simmer for around 10 mins until it becomes thicken a little, syrupy......When the cake is cooked, remove from cake tin and make holes with a cocktail stick all over the top......whilst it is still warm, feed the top of the cake with half of the syrup.
To serve, cut a slice and drizzle with a little of the remaining syrup, add a few extra orange segments to the plate and serve with cream, creme fraiche or as I did, with blood orange sorbet.
Enjoy!
