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
Samina | The Cupcake Confession says
Whoa!!!!!!!!!!! This is just such an amazing dessert idea!!!!! I've never used olive oil in desserts but this blog post has definitely changed my mind! :) also, its gluten free! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish you a VERYYYYYYY HAPPPPPPY NEW YEAR AIMEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Aimee says
haha thank you Samina! Happy new year to you too lovely!!
Sarah & Arkadi says
These are beautiful! My husband loves lemony desserts!
Aimee says
These are VERY lemony so I think he would love these! Hope you get to try them out :-)
Cupcake Girl says
Happy New Year Aimee! oh the beautifully simplicity of a lemon drizzle. Oh they do look GOOD....I seriously want something lemony to eat now. The icing just finishes it off YUM
Aimee says
Happy new year to you too! :D
Shari - Simply Shari's Gluten Free says
Oh my goodness! These look amazing. I happen to have some polenta on hand. Can't wait to make these. I love lemon anything!
Aimee says
Thank you Shari :D If you love lemon, you will LOVE these! Let me know if you get to try them!
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
So good to see a new post from you! Happy New Year! I'm going to start experimenting with some gluten-free baking so definitely going to pin these to try. They look wonderful :)
Aimee says
Thank you Christin and a very happy new year to you too! Let me know if you give these a try :-)