Yield: 12 Servings

Billy Parisi

You will absolutely love this few ingredient and simple to make Italian Homemade Lemon Polenta Cake recipe with lemon glaze.
A polenta cake is an Italian sweet cake that is made from cornmeal and almond flour and classically served with powdered sugar or a lemon glaze that goes over the top. It is very easy to make and only requires 10 ingredients. In Italy, it is a very simple humble cake that is made using leftover corn grits.
When making this recipe you can use either coarse corn grits or finely ground corn grits as both are acceptable but will provide different textures.

For the cake:

• 2¼cups cornmeal
• 2¼cups almond flour
• ¼tsp sea salt
• 2½tsp baking powder (HA: 2 tsp)
• 1½cups softened unsalted butter
• 1½cups sugar (HA: 1¼ cups)
• 2tsp vanilla
• zest of 2 lemons
• 5eggs

For the glaze:

• juice of 2 lemons
• 1¾cups powdered sugar

Prepare:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. (HA: 365°F)

Cut a 9” circle of parchment and lay in the bottom of a 9” spring-form pan.

Dry:

In a large bowl whisk together the cornmeal, almond flour, salt, and baking powder until combined. Set aside.

Butter/sugar:

Next add the butter and sugar to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-high speed for 5-7 minutes or until light and fluffy.

Add in the vanilla and lemon zest to the creamed butter and mix until it is mixed in about 10 seconds.

Mix batter:

Now alternate adding in the cornmeal mixture, dry ingredients and the eggs into the creamed butter mixture until each is mixed in before adding in the other, about 3-4 minutes total.

Once everything is mixed in, transfer the batter to a 9” spring-form pan and smooth the batter on the top using a rubber spatula.

Bake:

Bake the cake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until lightly browned on top and has a mostly firm center.

Cool the cake completely on a rack at room temperature before removing it from the spring form pan.

In a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until completely combined and then spread it over top of the cake, slice, and serve.

Chef notes:

Make-ahead: You can make this cake up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to store: Keep covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. Cover and refrigerate for up to 6 days. You can freeze covered for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before serving.

You can use any grind of cornmeal in this recipe.

If you do not have a stand mixer you can substitute it with a hand mixer.

I prefer to use the finely ground almond meal in this polenta cake.

Run a knife on the outside of the spring-form pan before undoing the buckle.