##A few years ago, Valencia celebrated the ‘València Ciudad Amable y el XV Congreso Ibérico La Bicicleta y la Ciudad’. ‘Ciudad Amable’ is an incentive from Andalusia, to promote the concept of a “friendly city”, with good public transport services, less traffic, nature and parks, sustainable tourism and safe cycling routes. Valencia with its now amazing network of cycle trails, the river park of the Turia, definitely fits the criteria. ‘La Ola Fresca’ was lucky enough to be involved in providing vegan ‘friendly’ food with minimal packaging for several hundred hungry cyclists.

These vegan polenta cupcakes, with orange ‘taronja’, gave a Valencian theme and kept to the guidelines but the only snag was ‘Cupcake holders’, which seem to have become more and more plastic as the cupcake craze has taken off. However, it is so easy to make your own and they look pretty too. Just take un-dyed baking parchment sheet and cut into small squares slightly bigger than your molds. When you have made your mixture, you just make a little triangle fold so you have a tulip-shape and fill straight away.

Polenta Taronja Crunch
Makes about 16
Heat the oven to 180degrees centigrade

Ingredients
Dry:
140g Fine polenta (cornmeal)
140g Rice Flour
80g Grounds Almonds
Dessert spoon of raising agent Baking powder
Pinch of salt

Liquid:
150ml Sunflower oil
150ml Soya Milk
60ml orange juice
Plus finely grated orange skin
Scant dessert spoon of panela or unrefined sugar

Topping:
200g Fine icing sugar
Juice of lemon to mix
Dried orange slices chopped

Method:
Mix all the dry ingredients and stir well.
Measure the liquid ingredients and stir well.

Carefully stir the liquid ingredients into the dry. As with muffins the more gently you do this, the more fluffy it will be. Leave it to stand while you make your baking-parchment squares.

Fill your cupcake/muffin tray one by one. You will need to hold the paper in place as you fill them.

Make some orange slices to dry in the oven as it is cooling.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 12 to 15 minutes.
Cool on a cooling rack before icing with the topping and decorating with the dried orange pieces.

If you want to get more involved in promoting safe cycle routes and cycling events in Valencia, you can join www.valenciaenbici.org

Helen Westwater of ‘La Ola Fresca’

LA OLA FRESCA
C/ Musico Magenti, 11
Tel:610 026 305
Zona Benimaclet
www.laolafresca.com
https://www.facebook.com/LAOLAFRESCA/
Valencia