A taste of sunshine - Lemon Cornmeal Cake

I came across this recipe while watching Cupcake Jemma on YouTube and I know I have to give it a try. Gluten free!!

Besides, I do have 2 lemons sitting sadly in my fridge, waiting patiently to be transformed into something delicious. So I bought myself some polenta and almond meal and got to it.

Before I start, I need to clarify something. The orignal recipe is called Polenta Cake. But Polenta is actually a NAME of a dish. And this dish is made from cornmeal. So technically we should call it Lemon Cornmeal Cake right? So if you can't find "polenta" in your stores, try cornmeal. It's the same.

165g unsalted butter (softened)
150g caster sugar
zest of 3 lemons
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 large eggs (about 112g)
1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

175g ground almonds
70g polenta / cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt

100g icing sugar
1.5 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 170C. 
2. Cream butter and sugar together with a paddle attachment until it is very pale and light. 
3. Using a fine grater, directly grate lemon zest into the mixing bowl. Add in lemon juice and mix well. Add in one egg at a time, mixing well before adding another. Add in vanilla and mix well. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together, getting rid of all lumps. 
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 50mins, or until it is done. It is done when you poke the middle of the cake with a skewer and it comes out clean. 
6. Remove from pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack before icing. For the icing, whisk icing sugar with lemon juice. Pour onto the cooled cake.

The whole house smells amazing when the cake was baking. I really love the bright yellow colour of the cake, so cheerful!

Taste wise, the cake was DELICIOUS! It tasted better than I expected. Looks dense like a butter cake, but it was very light and airy, breaks off easily actually. It taste good just as it is, but top it up with the lemon icing REALLY made a big difference in the flavour. I love the bright taste of the lemon with the fluffy cake. It's like eating sunshine!

One of the best thing I have baked so far. Definitely will do it again!