Lemon polenta cupcake with blueberries

The last three months have been pretty uninspired in the kitchen.

It seems that Stevie took up and left with his bags and my zest for most things.

I was quite happy to put it all on hold until we were together again, but four weeks turned into eight, and now it's been almost twelve...

While I have been eating well, (although admittedly it's not quite the same eating by yourself), I have taken strike action regarding baking...

It was one part protest and one part self preservation...

However yesterday, finally feeling defeated by this separation, but buoyed by the relief of surrendering to what is, I decided to bake.

I completely winged the recipe, but I think they turned out really well. Lemon, polenta and blueberries make very good friends :)

I've already eaten three, see what I mean about self preservation!?

One of those was eaten at about 5 this morning, as I watched the Italy vs Spain game - good, (if early breakfast), bad game :(

I'm freezing the rest for future snacking, (never tried this before).

Makes about 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbs applesauce

1 1/2 Tbs oil (I used canola)

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup rice milk

1 cup polenta

1/2 cup spelt flour (any flour would be fine)

1 tsp baking soda

Zest & juice of 2 lemons

1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)

Method

1.Mix applesauce and oil in a large mixing bowl until well combined.

2.Add sugar and mix, adding a little bit at a time.

3.Add vanilla essence and rice milk, mixing well.

4.Slowly add the polenta, flour and baking soda, combining well, before adding more.

5.Mix in the juice and zest, till a nice smooth batter is created.

6.Coat the blueberries with a handful of extra flour, and stir them into the batter.

7.Fill a cake tin or cupcake liners with the batter and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C/395F for about 18 minutes.