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.
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!