Polenta Almond Lemon Cake- A rich, delicious cake that has light refreshing lemon flavor. The almond and polenta give it an interesting flavor and texture.
Post Originally from 2/22/10, Pictures updated 3/6/19
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I love when I make a cake for a special occasion.
Of course, making a cake on a random Tuesday is enjoyable, but making a cake for something special doubles my excitement. Do you ever feel the same way?
I made this Polenta Almond Lemon Cake for Valentine’s Day. Price and I really enjoyed ending our Valentine’s Day celebrations with this cake. It seems like chocolate is traditional for Valentine’s Day, but it was fun to change things up with this cake. The Polenta Almond Lemon Cake is a delightful. The light lemon scent invites you to take a bite. Once you take a bite, you’ll want another and another.
My best friend, Emily, gifted me the The River Cafe Cookbook for my birthday. It’s a great book that I don’t want to put down. Price and I have gone through the book several times with “Oh this sounds good”, ” I want to try this!” or ” Oh, wait look at this one.” Basically, I want an ice cream maker to make all the sorbets they have in there- like a Campari Sorbet!
We chose this cake because it was different than anything we had before. Plus we did not want to go with chocolate, which just seemed a little too Valentines Day too us. It was fun to change things up and try something new.
Now, this Polenta Almond Lemon Cake is a real treat. It’s as indulgent as it is expensive. There is a whole pound of butter in here! Whoa nelly! The recipe dictates 10-12 servings, which makes for really large slices of a rich cake. I’m all for a big treat, but I think it’s realistic to cut it into 16 slices, if not 20 small ones. More slices, more sharing, which just means that you have shared some joy with lots of people.
Besides the butter, there is a whole pound of almond flour. I paid $10 for my pound of almond flour. Add up the butter, eggs, lemons… it easily sets you back $20-$25. I am not telling you that to scare you away from making this mouthwatering, irresistible cake. No, I’m telling you so that you do make it. You make it with pride for a special occasion like Valentine’s Day, a promotion, a dinner party, or a birthday. It’s gluten free (assuming you use certified products) so you can make it for someone special that has Celliac.
Something to keep in mind is that it is called Polenta Almond Cake, but really you don’t use polenta. Now, I’m not here to trick you, I’m here to let you know that you know that polenta is a dish, not an ingredient. You make polenta with cornmeal. Thus, you use cornmeal in this cake. See, I just saved you A LOT of time of searching around for an ingredient that doesn’t exactly exist. That information would have been helpful to me before. ha!
Cake like this is made to be shared. Besides being tender, magically dense while still being airy, it’s flavors come together so perfectly. It’s a really interesting cake that everyone will enjoy.
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Polenta Almond Lemon Cake
Polenta Almond Lemon Cake- A rich, delicious cake that has light refreshing lemon flavor. The almond and polenta give it an interesting flavor and texture.
Ingredients
- 8 oz Polenta flour/fine cornmeal
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1 pound caster/superfine sugar (granulated will work)
- 1 pound almond meal/flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 eggs, at room temperature
- zest of 4 lemons
- juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Butter and flour a 12-in round springform cake pan
- Combine the polenta, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside.
- Using an electric mixer/stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Gently mix in the almond flour and vanilla extract.
- Beat the eggs in, one at a time.
- Fold in the lemon zest and juice and the dry ingredients.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until set- test with a toothpick in the center of the cake. The cake will be a rich brown on the top.
Notes
- For a more precise baking experience, weigh the ingredients.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 609Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 132mgSodium: 156mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 5gSugar: 30gProtein: 11g
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