My preferred type of thrill is syrupy lemon! Instead of flour, ground almonds are used in this cake recipe.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 10-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ cups turbinado sugar
- 1 pound butter, room temperature
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- 5 cups almond meal
- 1 ⅓ cups fine cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 lemons, juiced and zested
- ¾ cup superfine sugar
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line the bottom of a 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
- Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next.
- In a separate bowl, combine the almond meal, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Gently fold it into the butter mixture, stirring just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 90 to 120 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, combine the lemon juice and superfine sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat.
- Remove the cake from the oven and use a skewer or toothpick to prick holes in the cake. Pour the lemon syrup over the surface. Allow the cake to cool in the pan completely before serving.
- If you can’t find almond meal, grind raw almonds in a food processor. One pound of almonds will yield approximately 5 cups of almond meal.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 774 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 87 g |
| Cholesterol | 163 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Saturated Fat | 21 g |
| Sodium | 409 mg |
| Sugars | 55 g |
| Fat | 42 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
USE THE SPRING FORM PAN! And do not cook for 2 hours, too long! It was good, perfect for my daughter who needs gluten free and I grabbed a quick taste before I dropped it off, but I was not happy when it was all over the bottom of my oven and I had to switch pans 20 mins into It! Lesson learned. Always read the Reviews!!!
Wonderful flavor, moist, easy to make
love it. beginning baker even did well this
Loved this cake with a punch of lemon. Moist and so good!
I made this and we enjoyed it. For next time, I wonder the quantity of squeezed lemon juice (rather than “6 lemons”, since lemons are a variety of sizes.) Will also try it again with less butter. I agree the name is deceptive… “polenta” is not “cornmeal.”
It came out great. Used meyer lemons and 3.5 stick of butter since other reviewers said 4 was too much. I would use 3 sticks next time because some of the butter seeped out of the bottom of my springform pan.
This cake was delicious! I made half the recipe in an 8×8 pan and it turned out great. Fantastic lemon flavor and the almond meal and cornmeal gave it a very interesting texture.
I have made this many times I love it.
I made it for a concert picnic. In my haste to get out the door, grabbed the cake from the oven and forgot the syrup. It was still SOOOO delish and a hit with our crowd. Served with slightly sweetened sour cream and berries.
This is a delicious Gluten Free lemon cake. I make it for a farmers market and the customers can’t get enough of it!
Great recipe, great cake! It is super simple to make and delicious to eat. Instead of 8 servings, I followed the recipe for 2 servings baked in an 8″ round pan. This amount will easily serve 6 people. The flavour of the cake is actually quite delicate with no hint of a cornbread taste. The lemon glaze gives it a gooey texture and the almond meal accents that. I kept mine in the fridge and served cool with warm toasted almond shavings on top. A nice, light cake that just happens to be gluten free, can’t beat that! Thank you for the recipe.
I made my own almond meal using raw almonds and coarse polenta instead of fine cornmeal, but otherwise followed the cake recipe exactly, and baked it in a 10″ springform pan. The result was a deliciously rich, gluten-free cake with a heavy crumb. A few sprigs of rosemary tossed into the lemon syrup as it simmered (and then strained out) added a little extra dimension. I’ll definitely make this again soon, but with just a tad less butter (some melted through the springform). The cake could easily serve 12 and would be fabulous paired with some ricotta and berries, or perhaps Greek yogurt and apricots.