Recipe: Gluten Free Lemon, Polenta, Nut Cake with Summer Solstice Preserves
I have been really thinking about food, health, diet, and other related topics for some months now. Yeah, I know, you thought I always think about food, and that is true, but I am talking about on a more cerebral level. I go through these stages every so often and since I have been really concerned with fitness and making my body the best body it can be, I have had to really think a lot lately.
I believe that you are what you eat, that different people have different dietary needs based on a variety of factors, and it is best for individuals to evaluate what works best for them. Once in a while you have to re-evaluate things, and make sure everything is still working to your standards.
I am always looking to improve myself, and I listen to my body, and take its advice on what may need to be tweaked and changed.
Lately I have been feeling like I need to take a bit of a break from wheat. I know this really flies in the face of my bread making endeavors , and the fact that Roberto could eat pasta and bread until the end of time. But for me, and looking over the back pages of my life and my relationship to wheat, things have been kind of shoddy between us on many levels. Therefore, I have decided to do a gluten free experiment…and when I say experiment, I mean, experiment. I get everyone in on it – like my mom (helping me make this cake). Oh and speaking of my mom, she is starting to help me with my other blog – Travel Closeup. She has written several posts and is now listed on the about page as well. Go check it out! 🙂
Anyway, back from family promotion and onto the food…I am not a person that tends to be into grains very much anyway, unless it is fresh baked breads or cakes and pastries. I don’t eat cakes and pastries very often, but I do eat bread. So it is time to see if gluten free is the way to go for me. So I have been experimenting with grains like quinoa, and buckwheat (which I already love) and eating more corn and rice based things – and trying to find non GMO versions of the corn based.
However, this weekend was the Summer Solstice, and as I mentioned last year, it is an event that we like to celebrate. I always bake for special occasions, and so I decided to challenge myself by making a GF cake. I just did a google search on gluten free lemon cakes from blogs, and happened across Joy, The Baker‘s Blog where she blogged this delicious, crumbly cake recipe . She had made it in a bundt shape, but said it crumbled too easy. So I decided to bake mine in a bread baking dish.
This cake makes A LOT of batter, and so I made a bread loaf, a round cake and 6 cupcakes! None of them fell apart! The only change I made was doing 4 ½ cups of nuts and 1 ½ cup of rice flour (because I ran out of nuts!).
For the solstice I halved the bread loaf lengthwise and filled it with the delicious Summer Solstice Preserves and topped it with whipped cream! It was a delicious cake – VERY buttery and dense, but also so good.
We sang Happy Birthday to summer, and feasted on this cake! I will write a post next week about what we ate besides this wonderful cake!
On a personal note, I may not be around visiting blogs as much in the next little while. Rest assured it is nothing personal. Roberto’s daughters are visiting us from Connecticut until the end of July (YAY!), and then we have family visiting from Italy during August, and so I will be spending more time with our guests than sitting at the computer! I hope everyone has a wonderful summer! Look forward to catching up with you later!
Gluten Free Lemon, Almond and Polenta Cake
from Joy The Baker, from Breakfast Lunch Tea, Rose Bakery
INGREDIENTS:
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
METHOD:
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.
ValleyWriter - June 24, 2009 at 11:13 am
The cake looks delicious (especially with those preserves) – but I have to ask: did it taste like cake? Or like crushed almonds? How was the mouth feel – soft or hard?
I’m intrigued, to say the least.
Have a wonderful summer & enjoy your company!
The Leftover Queen - June 24, 2009 at 11:23 am
It did taste like cake, but not super moist cake, like a birthday or wedding cake – kind of like a buttery French cake…have you ever had polenta cake before? If you have, it is very much like that. The mouth feel was crumbly and very buttery. There is quite a bit of butter in this cake (but when you consider how many cakes the batter made, it is not insane amounts). I have made many cakes with nutmeal as a major part, and they are very good – if you like nuts, that is…;)
zoe - June 24, 2009 at 11:55 am
Wow, I love polenta. But never had it for dessert! Great recipe!
Rosa - June 24, 2009 at 1:14 pm
That cake looks so delicious! Very original!
Cheers,
Rosa
Elle - June 24, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Jenn, that looks spectacular! And good for you for not only trying new things, but also listening to what your body is telling you. And look at your mom–she’s adorable!
Ben - June 24, 2009 at 1:45 pm
It’s funny that I am going through a similar stage where I want to make my body the best it can be at my age (LOL) and food plays a very important role on that. It’s so nice to see recipes like this one and foodies that are concerned about similar things. Great minds think alike right?
Bob - June 24, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Never would have thought to use polenta in a cake. Looks great! Have a good time this Summer! 🙂
Jenn - June 24, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Polenta in cake? That’s really new to me. That’s pretty neat and looks very delicious. Haha…love the sparkler on the cake.
Peter G - June 24, 2009 at 3:24 pm
There’s a gourmet bakery nearby that sells lemon and polenta cake and they always sell out! This looks so good. Especially with the addition of the preserves and the cream. Enjoy your summer with friends and especially family.
Happy Cook - June 24, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Wow it is a wonderufl way to celebrate summer.
I think it is always fun to make something with moms.
It is ages aog i dod that as my mom is in india.
Jen of a2eatwrite - June 24, 2009 at 3:28 pm
This looks lovely, Jenn! I love the mixture of lemon and polenta. A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease, and I will certainly send her over here.
SuperChef - June 24, 2009 at 4:11 pm
ohh my!! thats some excellent use of the preserves!!
DebinHawaii - June 24, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Your cake looks perfect with your preserves. Have fun with your family!
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie - June 24, 2009 at 6:47 pm
What a great idea to make cake with polenta! Sounds excellent with almond and lemon flavors!
The Duo Dishes - June 24, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Polenta in cake! Neva woulda thunk.
Adam - June 24, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Now THAT is a lot of cake, buddy. It’s huge, and I think a great idea for a party. I’m kind of an anti-polenta guy though, and probably just call them grits now (because I live down here now) 🙂
Best of luck on your gluten-free trial. I think it’s a great idea, and I can guarantee you’ll feel much better. Even if you don’t have any allergies, grains are inflammatory, and can thus make you feel a little off, so good call on that. You def know your homework 🙂
Have fun with your friends and travelers!
girlichef - June 24, 2009 at 9:19 pm
This looks excellent…and I love the sparkler- so festive!
Bellini Valli - June 24, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Sounds like the perfect way to enjoy the summer Jenn. Enjoy:D
Pam Striker - June 25, 2009 at 8:03 am
Hi Jenn,
I did the same thing with wheat last year for about 3 months. In that timeframe I felt so much better without it and then I went back to eating it and boy, was there a big difference in the way I felt….day and night difference!
So, now I am totally gluten free and loving it!
Good luck with your experiment!
Best,
Pam
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
(a gluten free blog)
kat - June 25, 2009 at 11:26 am
Have a great summer Jenn, seems like we are all so busy at this time of year
Jenni - June 25, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Happy Solstice and happy visiting, Jenn! Cake w/jam and cream? Sounds like breakfast and dessert–my kind of cake!
nina - June 25, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The cake looks moist and truly delicious!!! Wheat is one of those things that is so darn hard to cut out, but I can surely do without it!!
Teresa - June 25, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Jenn a tasty recipe indeed. I’ve always considered what I eat more in measurements that in quality, but I’ll give your idea a go. The polenta cake sounds really delicious. Have a great summer with your family. They ALWAYS come first. Your foodie friends (like me) will be here when you get back. 🙂
lo - June 25, 2009 at 5:53 pm
mmm. Lovely cake!
I’m torn about going gluten free, and have (instead) started soaking my grains. I’m definitely noticing an increase in digestibility (even with grains like quinoa). Maybe you take take bread baking back up with some sprouted grains?
Arlene - June 26, 2009 at 10:21 pm
It was a lovely celebration. And the cake was well worth zesting all of those lemons! The whipped cream you made with just a hint of the blueberry preserves was a tasty topping for the cake too. I could eat that by the spoonful.
Eralda - June 27, 2009 at 1:37 pm
The cake looks amazing. I had never thought of using polenta in a cake, but it makes sense. I bet the texture was delicious. So inspiring!
Lori Lynn - June 28, 2009 at 1:10 pm
My friend cut out gluten and she is doing so much better. The doctor said she did not have any kind of gluten intolerance as shown in the tests, but whatever it is, cutting it out is working for her. Good luck with your experiment.
Love the sparkler!
Happy Summer to You!
LL
Dragon - June 28, 2009 at 8:59 pm
How creative! I love everything in this cake. Yum!
The Leftover Queen - June 29, 2009 at 4:29 pm
lo! I like the idea of sprouted grains for bread baking. I haven’t found any gluten free breads that taste very good – and sometimes a girl needs a sandwich, ya know? Any suggestions of where to start?