A simple, rustic Italian-style polenta cake made with crunchy cornmeal and scented with fresh lemon.
This polenta cake is a favorite dessert recipe from my file. It’s a rustic, Italian-inspired cake infused with lemon zest and juice, with a tender texture and the lovely crunch of stoneground cornmeal — a/k/a polenta.
It’s the sort of peasant-style sweet I love.
You could cut it into slices and just eat it with your hands, or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve alongside generous helpings of whatever seasonal fruit is the sweetest at the moment, such lightly sweetened berries in the summer, or these prosecco-poached pears in the fall and winter months.
Lemon Polenta Cake
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1 8-inch cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup polenta, or stone-ground cornmeal
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg whites
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt or sour cream
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place an oven rack in the center of the oven.
- Line the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan with lightly oiled parchment paper to fit.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Beat the eggs, egg whites and sugar in a heavy-duty stand mixer until pale and creamy. On low speed, mix in the oil. butter, yogurt, lemon zest and juice.
- Stir in the dry ingredients until just blended. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 - 40 minutes, or until the top feels firm (not hard) and a toothpick inserted in the center of cake come out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes before inverting onto a rack to cool.
- Sift powdered sugar over the cake and serve.
Courses dessert
I made a similar version of this from Nigella the other day and it was delicious. So dense and full of zing from the lemons. I like the crunch the polenta gives each slice. I hate to admit it but it didn’t last long!
Yes, that lemony crunch is slightly habit-forming…I know exactly what you mean, Claire.
I’m a bit back logged on my reader – but none-the-less, this cake looks absolutely divine! Given my slight obsession lemon desserts and most recently polenta-anything — this is just begging to be made!
luv it thank you
I must try this! Looks delicious!
My husband is wild for polenta cake. I’ll have to give this a go!
I’ve just made this for my husband but replaced the all purpose flour with gluten free flour and it has worked perfectly! I can’t wait to dive in! Oops sorry, I mean for him to try it 😉
Polenta is not cornmeal, in Italian cornmeal is ‘farina di mais’.
Polenta is a kind of mush: You pour cornmeal in hot salted water, and cook it for about one hour; this is polenta.
I’ve just tried it with some figs on the top : gorgeous ! Thank you so much for this recipe !
So happy to hear that Tiffany!