The inspiration for this recipe came from Jamie Olivers show on PBS. I liked it because its 1) quick and 2) gluten free. He made his with blood oranges, which I may try sometime in the future, but I had lemons handy and coworkers who love them. So I mixed it up a bit and changed out the syrup that goes along with it. Enjoy!
Lemon Polenta Cake with Almonds
Cake:
- 14 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temp
- 1 cup sugar, brown or sugar in the raw if you have it
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp real vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups almonds, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup polenta
- 2 lemons, zested
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
Syrup:
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup honey
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 1/2 cup sugar
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 325 and line a 8 springform pan with parchment paper, spraying it with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, or stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add in the vanilla and lemon extract.
In a small bowl combine the polenta, lemon zest, almonds, and baking powder. Fold this into the butter/egg mixture. Pour into the springform pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the surface is light brown and a toothpick comes our clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
In a small pan, heat together the honey, water, lemon zest & juice, and sugar. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Let it simmer until its reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
Take a skewer and poke a bunch of holes in the cake. Pour the syrup over the top, it will soak in. Allow the cake to completely cook before removing from the pan. Flip it over carefully, as its a bit fragile, and remove the paper from the bottom. Slice and enjoy!