Vegan Recipe Update
I created this recipe a long time and will leave the original here, but please note I have posted an updated recipe with vegan, plant-based ingredients here: Gluten-free Lemon Polenta Cake (Vegan)
Wow, it’s been a reaaaaalllly long time since I last posted anything. Sorry about that… But I’m back now! And I hope you all enjoyed the holidays. I know I did *pats belly.*
Today I’ve been baking some lemon drizzle slices, but with a few surprise ingredients…
This recipe is adapted from Nigella’s Lemon Polenta Cake but in my version, I’ve used olive oil in place of butter for a wonderfully light texture and to cut back on the cholesterol and saturated fats.
Olive oil also contains vitamin E which helps keep the baked goods fresher for longer.
I love olive oil and use it in most of the meals I make, but rarely baking, I think that might change now though…
These cake slices remind me of Mr Kipling Lemon Slices (but way better OBV) – that same intense lemon flavour and moist, spongy cake.
This version is both gluten-free and dairy-free. Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Lemon Olive Oil Cake {Gluten-free, Dairy-free}
This recipe can be used to fit a 8 x 8 inch brownie tin or a 9 inch cake tin.
Ingredients
- 160 ml good quality olive oil
- 200 g caster sugar, superfine sugar
- 200 g ground almonds
- 100 g polenta, cornmeal
- 1 ½ tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large lemons, zest and juice
- 200 g icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease the tin with a little olive oil and line with greaseproof paper.
- Mix the sugar and olive oil together until pale and frothy.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the ground almonds, cornmeal and baking powder.
- Pour the dry mixture into the olive oil and sugar bowl and mix. Then crack in 1 of the eggs, followed by the dry mixture then alternate the eggs and dry ingredients. Keep mixing all the while.
- Add the lemon zest and mix again until fully incorporated. Pour or scrape the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean and the cake has begun to shrink away from the edges of the tin.
- Make the syrup by boiling together half of the lemon juice and 50g of the icing sugar in a small saucepan. Once the icing sugar’s dissolved into the juice, it's ready.
- Prick the top of the cake all over with a cake tester (a skewer will leave bigger holes but this is fine once you've covered it with icing), pour the warm syrup over the cake, and leave to cool before taking it out of its tin.
- Make the icing by mixing the remainder icing sugar and lemon juice, then once the cake has cooled, pour it on top and smooth over evenly.
- Leave the icing to set then cut into slices or squares. Enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from Nigella's Lemon Polenta Cake
TJ says
Thanks so much for this! I’m going to try it with Limes as I have some lovely trees producing them for me (and my lemon tree is looking a little sick). Will let you know how it goes!
Btw, if people really like an intense lemon or other citrus flavour, I tried a cake once where the juice was boiled to concentrate it before being added to the batter, and it was fantastic…
Dianshan Ee says
Is the cake itself lemony without the syrup? It’s only the zest that is added to the batter and not the juice so was wondering how the cake texture would turn out if I add the lemon juice to the batter?
Also, anyone tried replacing eggs with chia seeds? And substitute the added sugar with more natural ingredients?
Tasneem Gwaderi says
The syrup is the finishing touch but yes I’ve made this without the syrup when I wanted to ice it and it is still wonderfully lemony!
Not tried it with chia seeds yet, but I’d be interested to know if it works :)
Pip says
I always add the lemon juice to the cake batter, then do lemon icing when the cake or small bar cakes are ready. Yummy & sweet enough & leaves out one step.
Isabel Aguilar says
Can this be frozen? Thanks
Aimee says
Hi Isabel, I’m afraid I have no idea as I’ve not tried freezing it myself. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t though. Let me know how it turns out!
Laurel says
Hi!
I LOVE these! I’ve made them a bunch of times so far and like them the original way – with polenta – but have found that with the substitution of finely ground corn flour instead of polenta, these are immediately elevated and less gritty. They are my new “go to” recipe and my husband requests them if its been too long since the last bunch. Today I tried something a bit different with them: instead of the lemon I added a teaspoon of vanilla and lay fresh sliced apricots over the top before baking. It translated perfectly. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Aimee says
Wow, your apricot version sounds amazing!!! I’m so pleased you’ve enjoyed the recipe and thanks so much for your tips with the corn flour – I will try that next time :-)
Chantal says
What a delicious, light, moist cake. I used fine ground corn meal and the texture was perfect. I will definitely make this recipe again and also try vanilla and apricot. Thank you Aimee.
Aimee says
Oh I’m so pleased you enjoyed it Chantal! Thanks for letting me know :-) Vanilla and apricot sounds delicious.
Jewel says
This was delicious. I just threw all the ingredients in a bowl and mixed well, didn’t follow the steps. I don’t think it made a difference to the end result and it was so fast to make. I also didn’t bother with the syrup or glaze, instead I scattered raw sliced almonds on top before baking. The cake is sweet enough. And I used muffin tins lined with normal muffin papers- divide batter evenly between 24 cups and bake for just 20 mins or so.
Aimee says
That’s good to know, thanks Jewel! I love the idea of making them into muffins and topping with the sliced almonds too :-)