Tuesday 9 April 2013

Lemon Cornmeal Olive Oil Cake

I simply love the refreshing flavours of lemon in a cake and am always looking for a good recipe to make. I was immediately drawn to this Lemon Cornmeal Olive Oil Cake recipe when I first saw it on Liv Life - firstly its because I still have a huge bag of cornmeal sitting around from previous bakes and more importantly, it uses oil instead of butter. This recipe fits perfectly into my definition of a healthier cake recipe. 


I love how easy this cake is put together. It is bursting with fresh lemon flavour and has a wonderfully light and moist texture. The cornmeal added a very slight salty aftertaste which isn't very obvious yet complements the sweetness and sourish taste. The only thing about this cake is that one has to be very light and gentle when it comes to mixing the ingredients in or the cake may have some dense spots. 


The true test of how successful is a recipe is how much the kids and hubby enjoys it and they sure did! I almost immediately made another one because the first one was gone in a jiffy. 


Lemon Cornmeal Olive Oil Cake (9 inches)
Recipe from Livlife adapted from Epicurious and Abby Dodge

Lemon Cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal 
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk (I added 1 tbsp lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let it stand)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 cup citrus olive oil (or any light olive oil)
Lemon Glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbs to 1/4 cup lemon juice (depending on how thick you want the glaze to be) 
Method
  • Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and butter a 9-inch cake pan with 2-inch high sides.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
  • In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt, whisking to combine.
  • In a smaller bowl, combing the buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel, extracts and olive oil.  Again, whisk to combine.
  • Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, and with a light hand, gently fold the ingredients just until blended.  Abby specifically recommends folding, not stirring.   (Do not over-mix the batter, use light gentle folding, or the batter may lose its lightness and there will be some dense spots in the cake).
  • Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan and place into the center of the oven.
  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 25-30 minutes.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and run a knife around the sides.  Place rack atop cake in pan. Using oven mitts, hold pan and rack firmly together and invert cake onto rack. Remove pan from cake. Place another rack on bottom of cake; invert 1 more time so that cake is top side up.
  • Allow cake to cool about 10 minutes.
  • While cake is cooling, whisk together the Lemon Glaze ingredients to your desired consistency.  Liv prefers a thicker glaze, but add additional lemon juice for a nice, thinner drizzle if that is your preference.  
  • Drizzle or spoon glaze over cake and if you can, allow the glaze to set.  If you can't wait, the cake is delightful warm with the sticky glaze, but a few hours later it's even better.
Note: I used a 8.5 inch tin and didn't use the lemon glaze. I served mine with some yoghurt. 
This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and me, Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Esther from Copycake Kitchenat this post. 



This is for Made with Love Mondays by Javelin Warrior.

42 comments:

  1. Hi Mich, this cake sure look awesome. The texture look very moist and I like the lemon glaze. :)
    Great to go with coffee.

    Have a nice day.

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  2. huh... I always cannot be gentle when mixing the ingredients, I am like a hard labour worker hahaha... the cake looks nice.

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  3. Hi Mich
    If only I can get cornmeal easily here.....this cake of yours looking very tempting as I can see the texture looks very moist and soft. Healthy too, using olive oil.

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  4. Morning, Mich! Looking at the last picture makes me feel like helping you to finish the rest of the cake, hehehe!

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  5. Mich, the cake looks soft and moist. Is cornmeal same as polenta?

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    1. Hi Phong Hong, thanks, yes, cornmeal and polenta are the same.

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  6. oh, i loved a piece of these... looks extremely delicious:)

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  7. Lovely recipe - looks so simple but delivers bursts of flavour!

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  8. I may have seen this cake in Liv Life's blog before and remembered thinking I want to try it out too! But of course I need to get the cornmeal first! Lol! Yours looks delicious!

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  9. Your cake looks wonderful and delicious, can i have one piece?

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  10. You always have such lovely, healthy recipes. I should learn from you I think.

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  11. This cake looks like those selling in Italian restaurants. My kind of cake. Simple,rustic and full of flavor.

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  12. Hi Mich, love this full of great flavour cake, very inviting !!!! Thank you for linking this post to LTU :)

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  13. I love lemon in everything ! Remember the lemon-ginger pound cake recipe that I've borrowed from you last time ? That was one of my fave cake of all time :D That lemon-cornmeal combo sounds terrific ! bet it taste as good as it looks !

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  14. Look at the lemon glaze on this cake, I wish I can have a slice of your cake now..

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  15. Hi Mich! I have a packet of cornmeal that has been lying in the kitchen for the longest time. Let me check... If it has not expired, this recipe would be put to good use! :D

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  16. Oh yum your cake looks delicious, the texture looks perfect!

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  17. Mich, this is a very healthy and beautiful cake. The crumb is perfect.

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  18. Cornmeal? Just wondering what is that?

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  19. hi mich, i hv started to love cornmeal in cakes after having tried them on several cakes. This really sounds an easy recipe, can even do it without a electric mixer! Looks wonderful!

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  20. So cool, Mich! I've never used cornmeal in cake before, but I love the concept and it looks so delicious. And lemon is such a wonderful addition... Thank you so much for sharing!

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  21. Hi Mich, never tried cornmeal in my bakes but the salty result sounds interesting.

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  22. We have seen several "olive oil" cakes but have never made one.. This one looks delicious!! Would love to try this soon.. Bookmarking it.

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  23. Mich I tried once olive oil cake, but not this combo, looks perfect and soft.

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  24. Hi Mich,

    My son and I love baking and cooking with cornmeal too. The gritty texture and slightly salt taste of this wonderful ingredient is always giving our food a lot of extra crunch and bites.

    With cornmeal, this nice and easy cake looks extremely wonderful!

    Zoe

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  25. I love the flavor of lemon in a cake. This one sounds healthy and delicious.

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  26. I like this cake as it sounds like it has some body to it and also not too sweet.

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  27. looks like a wonderfully decadent dessert without that sickly sweetness some cakes get. looks beautiful, well done

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  28. I see you using all purpose flour, is all purpose flour better for baking cake like this? As I always use self raising flour.

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  29. I love the citrus flavor in cakes too! If it pleased the family then certainly is a winner!

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  30. I've been meaning to make a cake with olive oil for ages now! You've just reminded me, this sounds so good.

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  31. That is one great looking cake, Mich! The texture looks moist and tender!

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  32. Looks so refreshing..wonder how I have been missing your posts for some time!!

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  33. So...it's been awhile since I've visited your blog and looking at your pictures, I have no idea why. Such excellent recipes!! I'm putting this one on my list for sure. I just want to dig right into that last photo--excellent shot of the cake's interior!

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  34. Eileen, Hundred Eighty Degrees10 April 2013 at 23:27

    Hi Mich, I will bookmark this so that I can clear the packet of yellow cornmeal. Yummy: )

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  35. Please just give me a cup of coffee and a slice, or three of this delightful cake!

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  36. You know after baking for so many years, I have yet tried baking with cornmeal, haha! Maybe once long long time ago to make cornbread. But your lemon infused cornmeal cake looks very good!

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  37. I adore lemon cake. I happen to have an abundance at the moment. I mean, who can resist a bargain bag of lemons or limes? I can't!

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  38. Cornmeal is so yummy! It is a perfect combination with lemon. A cake with a very interesting texture. Delicious Mich!
    PS: it must be much lighter with olive oil!

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  39. Mmmmm.....my favourite! I always love lemon cake. Now I'm drooling over your picture :D Love that you use olive oil. I have been baking a lot of cakes using olive oil lately. I think it's healthier. However I have never tried with cornmeal. Must try it one of these days. Thanks very much for sharing.

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  40. Hi Mich,
    Your cake looks moist and delish!!
    I should try out some bakes with cornmeal too.
    Let me start off trying your recipe..:D
    Thanks for sharing:D
    mui

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  41. Ohhh this recipe sounded very familiar and now I know why it's from Kim's. It looks delicious! I rarely use cornmeal but I think I have some leftover in pantry. I love citrus in baked goods, this looks so tempting!

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