Please allow me this bright and promising Monday morning to keep it one hundred percent real with you. While this gluten free cake was buttery, nutty, bright with the flavor of lemon and perfectly sweet, the truth is, it ended up all over my floor. Well… ok, bits on the floor, chunks on the counter, and pieces in my dirty sink. Basically, this cake landed everywhere except the cake plate where I wanted it.
I salvaged a few if the larger pieces to mock up a pretty picture for you. For a few moments I thought I might not even tell you about my cake accident. But… see, my cake didn’t just land on the floor because I’m clumsy, but because I was taking baking liberties that I shouldn’t have. Fact.
This cake taught me a small lesson about baking pan choices and cooking times. It also helped me get my cake dropping out of the way for the next several months. I only drop a cake every three months or so. I feels good to be free and clear for a few months to come.
Here’s what you should know about this cake. The crumb is held together with butter, almond flour and eggs. While the cake is full of great flavor, it’s a bit crumbly. To best work with the crumb of this cake, I think it would be best baked in mini loaf pans, or mini bundt pans, or those long and skinny loaf pans (6×2 1/2-inches) if you have them. Cupcakes also worked out well, baking for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges were nice and brown. Regular sized, larger loaf pans will most likely create a cake that is sunken in the middle. Bundt pans.. well that’s how I dropped my cake on the floor… no good.
When it comes to baking this beauty, you might be surprised when I say: longer is better. We’re not looking for a lightly colored American style cake here. We’re looking for a French brown: a baked good left to bake until the sides are beautifully dark brown. I think the longer cooking time will help the crumb stay together better.
I’m thinking my mistakes will help you create a better cake. Go on… bake away!
Gluten Free Lemon, Almond and Polenta Cake
from Breakfast Lunch Tea, Rose Bakery
2 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened plus extra for greasing pans
2 1/4 cups sugar
grated zest of four lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
5 1/2 cups ground almonds
2 cups polenta
1/2 cup rice or corn flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Butter eight mini bread tins and line the bottoms with parchment paper, or line 3 cupcake pans with foil cupcake liners.
Measure out the sugar and lemon zest. With the back of a spoon or a plastic bench knife, rub the lemon zest into the sugar, creating a lemony and fragrant sugar. Beat the butter and sugar until very light and creamy. Add the lemon juice and the vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition.
Mix together the flour, ground almonds, polenta, rice or corn flour, baking powder and salt and fold into the butter mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for 35-40 minutes (20-25 minutes for cupcakes) or until a knife inserted in the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool the cakes in their tins before taking them out.
Sift some powdered sugar over the cooled cakes for decoration.
Maria
I can’t wait to try this out. Thank you for sharing.
Angela
Joy, you are the person to ask. You are adventurous. I would like to try lemon polenta cake starting with real corn. I followed a newspaper recipe that made polenta by grating corn on cob and mixing it with water and butter — I made it like risotta/grits by slowly adding more water as it got dry and finished with butter. Then, borrowing from you, I added an egg, some flour (not enough), a dollop of greek yogurt. It came out soft, kind of like the inside of a tamale.
Would you mind advising me on how to balance the cake ingredients when I make polenta using ears of corn. (It is a little wet.) I’ll take your best guess and tell you how it comes out., if you are willing.
Thanks for your time,
Angela (harvellad@gmail.com)
Martha
Made this cake with my mom for Christmas and we loved it! Halved the recipe and added 1/2 teaspoon Xanthum Gum which held it together beautifully! Thanks for the recipe.
Carla @ Gluten Free Recipe Box
This cake looks divine! – so moist! One question, though: Do you use 5 cups of almonds, and then grind them, or do you use 5 cups of ground almond meal? It appears to be the latter, but just checking. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful recipe!
michele
fyi for anyone concerned about the “falling apart” issue Joy the Baker encountered — if those are the almonds she used, that was part of the problem. the ground almonds necessary for this recipe are almond flour — that is, finely ground in a food processor (chopping by hand would not do it) just prior to the butter stage. you can also buy almond flour (but make sure it is very fine, not just chopped almonds passing for almond flour!). nuts this coarse will not bake into a cohesive cake, although you can add coarser nut for flavor, preferably toasted.
Rita
I’m wondering if the cake would hold together better with the addition of 1/2 t. of zanthum gum. It’s what we celiacs add to all baked goods to help them hold together when there is no gluten.
mbt on sale
that is very kind of you to do this for us, thanks a lot.
Jennifer
Is polenta the same as cornmeal? What do I look for in the store? Box, bulk, etc.
Thank you!
terri
Isn’t this how trifle was invented?
heidileon
well, Dear Joy, I will try out this recipe in the following days, just need to find some polenta in the area..(update I live in China, but mei you bu ke neng; or nothing is impossible).
I’ll tell you my experience when I’ll make it.
hugs
emilyn
Go G Free! I have celiac disease and have some experience with g free baking and just a word: it is always crumbly :) wasn’t you – it’s the recipe!
Sassy
I just had a total lemon polenta cake DISASTER!! It didnt set! The recipe was pretty much the same as yours, but the whole thing just fell apart when I took it out of the tin. I cooked it for 1 hour at 360 degrees.
Any idea why?
Argghhh
Shiran
To Sassy,
gluten free flour is alw0ays hard to handle. Next time don’t take it out of the form at all and let wait until it’s cold. I put mine in the fridge after it cooled of from the backing it it was good to go.
Shiran
Thank’s for an amazing recipe. I just tried the cake and it’s delicious.
Ishkadebble
Oh my! Sounds fantastic. If I had found your recipe the day it was posted, my birthday cake dilemma would have been solved for 2009. March 30th was my birthday and as a gluten free lover of both lemon and polenta, your recipe would have been a perfect finish to my dinner.
I just bought a couple pounds of gorgeous organic meyer lemons. Now I know what I want to make with them. Thanks!
gine
mmm .. i love polenta and this looks delicious!
My Morning Muffin
I was juuust thinking this might make a nice muffin recipe, when followed your link through to see you had suggested cupcakes! (Cupcakes, muffins….potatoe patato, right?) Think I’ll try it (as “muffins”, right? Shhh…).
Oh and I was inspired by your Brown Butter Cornmeal muffins …I added some shredded macintosh apples to mine (the summer fruits you had added were a little rich for my Canadian blood at this time of year). Turned out great!
Deborah
Usually gluten free doesn’t look this good! I want a slice, even if it was on the floor!
Mazobob
I might be the only one to say this (or admit this) but I’d apply the “10 second rule” and eat most of the cake anyway. =) Then again, I might be one of the few men, if not only man, who frequent this blog.
Sure it wouldn’t be photo worthy, but edible nonetheless.
My wife loves lemon-anything, and her b-day is Friday. hmmm….
Gaëtan
Hi !
I love cooking (obvious because I’m French :-) !) and I love looking at your photos of seemly delicious cakes and other sweet meals.
I’d like to meet you and you to show me how you can write so cute what you cook…
Kisses from Paris.
Sarah
Love the recipe, will be giving it to my SIL who’s coeliac. I have followed your lovely blog for ages, but never commented. When I saw you on timesonline.com this morning I was unreasonably excited and knew it was time :) Thanks for all the wonderful inspiration!
Mrs. L
I have a wonderful friend who must eat gluten-free stuff and I never know what to do for dessert when she comes over other than fresh fruit. Thanks for the recipe, this will be perfect next time she visits.
rita
well the part you salvaged for the picture still looks delicious. cheers!
Amanda
5 1/2 cups of almonds? that seems like a whole lot to me…no?
Jil
That piece looks wonderful. This post reminds me of my own cake mishap just a few days ago. I just didn’t think fast enough to get a picture of half the cake running off my beautiful cake stand. It was a sad sight. I managed to salvage what was undone and bake it a little longer. It was due to the different style baking dish. Last night I baked the same cake in my trusty old non-stick bundt pan and it baked evenly and came out properly. :) Thanks for posting this great recipe!
Ann
I’m so happy I found your blog. Can’t wait to spend a little more time reading my way through your “bakery”.
Culinary Wannabe
Talk about looking on the bright side! That is a heck of an attitude you have there – you must be having beautiful weather and something yummy to eat. :)
Elyse
I love your optimistic attitude. It’s always good to get your cake-dropping out of the way. I was taking some soup out of the fridge tonight–just the organic kind that comes in the carton (nothing homemade), and I dropped one carton completely splat on the floor. Cursing, I went to grab the towel off of the counter and knocked the second carton of soup off of the counter onto the floor. Two splats in under 30 seconds! I figure I shouldn’t do that again for a while now. Annnyway, this cake looks delicious. I totally would’ve parked my rear on your floor and forked away at this yummy treat.
Kitchen M
Wow! I looove your blog! It’s beautiful and very stylish.
Looking forward to visiting more often! :)
Lorelei Craig
Thanks for sharing your mistake – I find it hard to post about them – and boy do I make them. Love your pictures! I am dying to learn how to take better photographs.
Linsey
I had to see for myself the lemon/almond/gluten-free wonder you mentioned in your comments on my blog. Lovely! That’s something I’d sink my teeth into when I’m feeling like venturing into the corn zone.
And great pictures!
darya
Wow, beautiful photos and delicious looking recipes!
Jennifer
Wow, would I love to sink a fork into that cake! Yum!! So moist and rich looking :)
katie
yay! a gluten-free recipe :) it’s always nice when other bakers look out for those of us who can’t eat wheat! this cake looks amazing…can’t wait to bake it.
Terresa
Looks dense and delicious!
Kelly
I love the picture at the end of the bundt pan with an ominous knife right next to it. I’m not sure if you are ready to laugh at the situation yet but it made me smile! (Sorry to gain a smile from your loss!)
unconfidentialcook
Lemons are in the air–this looks just great! Once I brought Our Favorite Chocolate Cake to someone’s fancy dinner party, and as I was taking it out of the refrigerator I dropped it. It splattered and I sliced off the parts that weren’t touching the floor, mounded it on the cake plate and covered it with whipped cream. I still cringe when I think about it.
Betsy
I am generally pretty skeptical of gluten free baking, but I trust you. I will have to try this! I’m glad you got the cake dropping out of the way for a while. Loving your blog, btw!
food.baby
How sad to lose a yummy cake like that! Thanks for sharing though – it makes me feel better about all the times I’ve done it too, mostly from tripping over my own feet!
snooky doodle
oh what a pity! this cake looks good. moist and yummy even though crumbly. I love almond and polenta the texture is unique
Margie
Joy(ous) girlfriend, I LOVE that you would admit to us, and even share, the ‘bake-gone-bad’ event. Too much of the time we feel compelled to show only our best. It doesn’t allow us, nor our fellow foodies the comfort zone that is so important when sharing ideas and challenges.
We iz human, honey-bees. Thank you for showing us your petticoat and allowing us on the playground with you. We are better for it.
:)
bj
a pic of ur chaotic kitchen would have been nice too! good for u for sharing ur strengths and weaknesses ;)
Phoo-D
Dropping a cake sounds like something that would totally happen to me. I have a big problem with bumping, dropping, tripping, jamming, etc. Sigh, I think it’s genetic. The piece you saved looks delectable! Do you make your own ground almonds? The recipe calls for a large quantity.
Hayley
Oh no! And it looks so tasty. I hope some of the larger pieces fell onto a plate for you to eat up. At least your clear for a few months now.
Maggie-Lee
Just stumbled across this website over the weekend. What a really lovely, make-me-softly-smile kinda place to visit every morning for a quick drop in. Could become like visiting a friend for a cuppa in the morning before work. Thanks for doing what you do.
Kris
Sometimes the best part are the crumbs! Joy, I’m so glad your back from Oakland, I hope you enjoyed your time in your dress!!!
Confession… I just found you last week, and like someone else said.. I think I love you!! I love your recipes, your tips and how your put a smile on my face. I’ve made your Red Velvet Black & White cookie twice now, to rave reviews!!! But I also found out yesterday how a pan can make a difference. I thought…I’m going to do a batch on my stoneware pan and no parchment paper. Salvagable, but not like they should be. So I learned how the right pan can make all the difference.
Ema
One day when I was in high school I came home to discover that our labrador had dug into a three layer cake my mom had just finished putting together for my niece’s birthday. That dog was in so much trouble! That’s probably the saddest baking story I can think of from my family! Anyway, your photos reminded me I forgot to buy cupcake liners for the cupcakes I’m making tonight. Whoops! And the bits of cake you saved look delicious! I love lemon flavored treats.
The Duo Dishes
Things happen! Could’ve been worse somehow. Everyone needs to hear the good and bad though, so we should all just share the stories.
Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food.
Oh, about dropping a cake… happened to me about 2 years ago. Later on I found out I had an ear infection. I was wandering why I felt as if I was on a boat.
Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food.
What a great blog you have. It’s my second time finding myself landing here… Today I’ve subscribed.
Gorgeous photos, BTW. I’m researching to buy a new camera. Was glad to read you have a Rebel – this is what I think of buying, just not sure about XS or XSi. As for the lens… I think you convinced me to invest in a better and more expensive one.
Britt
Yeah Gluten Free!! You have rocked my world!!
Erin
Yum. This looks delicious! Thank you so much for the tip about the baking pan. Often times I switch up bunt pans, loaf pans, sheet cakes, cupcakes and you’re TOTALLY right…sometimes it’s a disaster! Thanks for being so honest. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
June
Glad you got your cake-drop out of the way for the next 3 months. Sorry to say, yes, I’ve been there and it is a sad day at our house when it happens!
I love lemon, and lemon in a cake-type version is always #1 on my list. What would you think about a sweet lemony drizzle on the top? Too much?
noble pig
I’m sorry but it sounds delicious! What makes a blog wonderful is you can write about the mishaps!
martina
Soooo sorry to know about your mishap! You know, these things happen to everybody from time to time…would you know mine? some times ago I slipped an entire pizza out of the oven …to my kitchen’s wall!!! So bloody wall and mozzarella cheese on the carpet! And an empty pizza for dinner! Just to cheer you up
Martina