Lemon Cornmeal Cake With Lemon Glaze & Crushed Blueberry Sauce
Submitted by happyzhangbo
Lemon cornmeal cake with a hot lemon glaze and crushed blueberry sauce. A rustic single-layer buttermilk cake with a tender crumb and gritty cornmeal bite, finished with bright citrus shine.
YIELD
10 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
30 minREADY
45 minThis cake tastes like a cross between a pound cake and a coarse Italian torta di polenta. Yellow cornmeal gives the crumb its signature grit and a faint sweetness, while all-purpose and whole-wheat flour keep it tender. Buttermilk provides the lift and tang that makes lemon desserts actually taste like lemon rather than sugar.
The glaze goes on while the cake is still hot, which is the crucial move. A hot cake absorbs the lemony icing into its top layer rather than letting it just sit on the surface. The result is a crackly-crisp sugar lid that seals in moisture and delivers a lemon hit in every bite.
Serve with a spoonful of crushed blueberry sauce. The tart berries cut the cake’s sweetness and turn one dessert into a restaurant-worthy plate. Great for brunch, spring dinner parties, or a just-because Sunday bake.
Pro Tips
- Fold the wet into the dry, don’t beat. Overmixing develops gluten and turns the crumb rubbery. A rubber spatula and a light hand are the tools.
- Line the pan bottom with parchment. Cornmeal-heavy cakes can stick badly, and the parchment is cheap insurance.
- Glaze while the cake is HOT, not warm. The heat lets the glaze soak into the top layer of crumb. Cool cakes shed glaze.
- Use finely grated lemon zest, not coarse. Thick pieces of peel leave bitter surprises in the bite.
Variations
- Swap whole-wheat flour for almond meal for a gluten-alternative nutty version.
- Use lime zest and juice instead of lemon for a tropical twist.
- Fold half a cup of fresh blueberries into the batter before baking for a built-in berry layer.
Ingredients
Directions
For glaze:
Combine powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in small bowl.
Stir with spoon until smooth and paste-like, adding more lemon juice by ½ teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to spread.
Set aside.
For cake:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.
Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; line bottom with parchment.
Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl; whisk to blend.
Whisk buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel, and vanilla in small bowl.
Pour buttermilk mixture and melted butter into flour mixture.
Using rubber spatula, gently fold liquids into flour mixture until just blended (do not stir).
Scrape batter into pan; spread evenly.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean and cake pulls away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes.
Immediately run knife around sides of cake.
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.
Stir glaze until blended.
While cake is still very hot, drop glaze by tablespoonfuls onto cake; spread to within ½ inch of edge (some glaze may drip down sides of cake).
Cool completely.
Serve with Crushed-Blueberry Sauce.
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