Guys. I have the best EVER cake recipe for you today. It’s lemon polenta cake, and it’s basically all your lemon cake dreams come true. It tastes like lemon curd, it’s so tart and vibrant and (get ready, I’m going to say it) moist. And there’s a video to go with it!!
So things around here have been a bit manic. We’re leaving for our US + Jamaica holiday on Thursday, and I’ve been working like a mad woman making custom cakes, getting enough blog recipes in order so I can still post when I’m away, and baking like a crazy person at work to make sure everything is sorted for my bakery family!
Phew. I’m tired even reading that back. But no matter what I have happening this week, I totally had to share this cake with you.
This cake slaps you in the face with it’s lemony-ness. If you don’t like lemon, back away from the screen now. Because this cake SCREAMS lemon. There’s lemon inside, and it’s drowned in a lemon syrup.
I made this for a dinner party, so I took a big cake to dinner and made little cakes that I could keep all to myself. Because they’re really that good. They’re even flourless, and we all know there’s no better cake than a flourless cake.
I topped the cakes with flowers and fruit (try raspberries! Blueberries! Roasted rhubarb! Anything!) which makes them pretty, but also breaks up all that lemony lemon.
Like I said we’re leaving on Thursday, but I’ll still be posting! And make sure you’re following on Instagram to stay updated with all the bakeries I’ll be visiting and all the delicious food I’ll be eating when I’m away!
For now, I leave you with this video of me making these cakes. In my home kitchen. With Mr Man giggling away in the background. X
- FOR THE CAKE
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g caster (superfine) sugar
- 200g almond meal
- 100g polenta
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 3 eggs
- Zest 2 lemons
- FOR THE SYRUP
- Juice 2 lemons
- 125g caster (superfine) sugar
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and grease and line the base and sides of a 9 inch cake tin with baking paper.
- FOR THE CAKE
- Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until pale and fluffy.
- Combine the almond meal, polenta, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
- Add a third of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat until combined. Then beat in an egg, followed by another third of the dry ingredients. Continue until all the dry ingredients and eggs have been incorporated.
- Beat in the lemon zest.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared tin and smooth out the top.
- Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until the edges begin to come away from the tin and the centre is set.
- FOR THE SYRUP
- When the cake is almost ready, place the lemon juice and sugar in a small pot over. Heat gently on the stove until the sugar melts.
- When the cake is ready, remove from the oven, prick gently with a skewer and pour over the lemon syrup. Allow the cake to cool in the tin as it absorbs the syrup.
- I topped mine with raspberries, vanilla roasted rhubarb and flowers, but decorate as you wish!
- Serves 10 - 12.
- Happy baking!
Recipe adapted from Nigella.