Super easy lemon polenta cake with some ricotta cheese for moisture and served with a gorgeous blueberry sauce. The texture is dense, sweet and a welcomed change from the usual sponge cakes.
Originally posted in March 2013, this post has been updated with images and text. The recipe has been slightly changed for the better!
I love lemon just like any other else. I think it might just be the number one flavor worldwide. In the top 2?
I know I love it big time and there are many top recipes in this blog: Lemon Coconut Sheet Cake, the easiest Lemon Icebox Dessert, Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake, and many others.
Well, this lemon polenta cake is very different from the usual suspect mentioned above.
It's dense, super moist but coarse, with big flavors and a rather unappealing look because it's not a looker unless you drench it in the blueberry sauce, which for me is a must. But you can eat it as a plain snack cake.
I've been meaning to make a polenta cake for the longest time.
I'm a polenta groupie. It's one of the things that I ate all the time as a kid and loved it. And it pairs so ridiculously well with lemons that I'm really happy to share this recipe with you.
About polenta
As you can see in the image below, polenta is yellow corn that is coarsely ground, and though the name is a dish in Italy, it is also used to refer to the cornmeal.
Instant polenta: this is the one you want because it cooks quickly as it absorbs liquid faster. There is a kind that takes a long time to cook, and it might be too hard when you bite.
Where I live there is also fine cornflour which is not the same. I never used it for this recipe because I do like the rustic bite polenta adds, but I think it can be used.
The list of ingredients talks of a cake that is sweet, wonderfully humid but somewhat coarse. For me, it's all I like in a cake, because I not only love polenta for baking but ricotta and honey as well.
About ricotta
Ricotta is a soft, grainy cheese made from cow's milk in this case (though it can also be made with goat, sheep or buffalo milk). The type I use for all of my recipes is the regular soft ricotta sold in supermarkets or specialty stores. It's creamy but granular, moist and has an almost sweet taste.
Quality varies according to brands. I try to buy original ricotta sourced from good small producers. It tastes much better and I like the consistency more.
Topping
I use this blueberry sauce without the cornstarch as I like it to be more fluid.
This is, in theory, optional, but I can't stress enough how great the whole package (polenta cake and blueberry sauce) is. They complement each other and the dense cake becomes mellower. It's an outstanding pair.
Do you have other berries? Use them. Raspberries and blackberries work well too, though they're very tangy so you might want to add more sugar to the sauce. Sweet cherries work very well too, like the sauce I serve with this Chocolate Ice Cream.
Top tips
- Room t°: it's important to have ingredients at room temperature as it will aid in the mixing.
- Ricotta: it needs to be soft, curdled, and moist but without excess liquid. If it has too much water, drain it, or use it instead of the water called for in the recipe.
- Polenta: use instant as it will absorb liquid better.
- Pan: this is a short cake. What I do to keep it from baking with a bump in the center is I pour it around the edges and let the center fill itself up. It helps most of the time.
- Variations: use lime or orange zest or even a mix of several citruses. Add a ground spice such as cardamom for a different touch.
Other recipes you might like:
Lemon Blueberry Cake
Lemon-Lime Pound Cake
Lemon Cream Loaf
Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake
Blueberry Applesauce Loaf
Orange Ricotta Cheesecake
Orange Blackberry Muffin Loaf
Lemon Polenta Cake
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: International
Ingredients
For lemon polenta cake:
- 3/4 cup polenta or yellow cornmeal
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup ricotta cheese, at room t°
- 1/3 cup water or buttermilk
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 8 Tbs (115g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold and in small pieces
- 2 large eggs, at room t°
For the blueberry sauce:
- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
Instructions
For lemon polenta cake:
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line bottom of a 9-inch (24cm) springform cake pan with parchment paper and spray or butter sides of pan.
- Mix polenta, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat ricotta and water until smooth. If it's still be somewhat curdled, don't worry. Add sugar, honey and lemon zest and beat well. Gradually add melted butter and then add eggs, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is smooth.
- On low speed, add the dry ingredients in two or three additions, beating only until incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the pan, dot the top with the tablespoon of chilled butter and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack, unmold onto a serving plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with the blueberry sauce.
For the blueberry sauce:
- In a saucepan mix blueberries, lemon juice and sugar.
- Cook for about 5 minutes at medium low heat, until syrupy and the berries are somewhat wrinkled.
Notes
- Room t°: it's important to have ingredients at room temperature as it will aid in the mixing.
- Ricotta: it needs to be soft, curdled, and moist but without excess liquid. If it has too much water, drain it, or use it instead of the water called for in the recipe.
- Polenta: use instant as it will absorb liquid better.
- Pan: this is a short cake. What I do to keep it from baking with a bump in the center is I pour it around the edges and let the center fill itself up. It helps most of the time.
- Variations: use lime or orange zest or even a mix of several citruses. Add a ground spice such as cardamom for a different touch.
- Sauce: you can use a sweeter berry sauce. Or use your favorite berry cheesecake topping, maybe a good-quality jam.
Keywords: polenta cake
You know I adore lemon! A compelling and vibrant dessert!
In the U.S. there are no Easter holidays, only spring break for students. So enjoy!
I've made a caramel polenta cake from Dorie that was out of this world. I'm sure this adaptation is also exceptional.
Oh, this looks like one fantastic cake, Paula! And the blueberry sauce is a gorgeous topping. Happy, happy Easter!!! xo
Paula - this is beautiful, I adore polenta! Happy Easter!
Oh you've posted the perfect recipe for me to try!I have yellow cornmeal sitting in my pantry for far too long and now I know exactly what I'm going to do with it!The blueberry lemon combo sounds wonderful!!Gorgeous pics too 🙂
Paula, this cake is beyond amazing. I will need to make a special batch of my vegan ricotta to give your polenta cake a try. I also love polenta in every form and have never thought that it could be used for a cake. Thank you and Happy Easter to you 🙂 ~ Bea
WOW! I have never made a polenta cake, but now I must! Esp when you throw in two of my favorite flavors of lemon and blueberry! Happy Sunday, Paula!
Every time I come by here, I drool... I absolutely love, love, looooove this cake!! Gorgeous photos, Paula.
Happy Easter, my friend!! xo
I love the sauce! Yum!
Looks heavenly with berry sauce!!
I have never tried a polenta cake before but I think I would love yours. Lemon and Blueberries together just marry together nicely in any dish.
I've been looking for a good polenta cake recipe and this one sounds absolutely divine! And I'm with you on the lemon+cake=happy 🙂
I love Polenta cakes...and I know they go perfectly with lemon. Plus, blueberry and lemon are totally best buds, so this sounds like it may be the PERFECT cake! Beautiful, Paula.
Paula, that look delicious and your photos are stunning. I love your cake box. Have a wonderful Easter.
Polenta is really lovely in cakes and I really like what you did here. Beautiful job, Paula!
I have always wanted to make a polenta cake. I should just come over and you can feed me some of this instead!
Recently I tackled making my first olive oil cake and the next on my list is a polenta cake. Seeing your absolutely beautiful cake inspires me to move it up on the to-do list. Wow Paula. It's really stunning.
I have also wanted to make a polenta cake for the longest time! This one looks perfection and fabulous with the blueberry sauce! I just imagine that blueberries must be the best with the polenta and the lemon. Gorgeous and mouthwatering!
Tengo ganas de experimentar con polenta, no es un ingrediente muy común aquí 😉 thanx for the recipe!
I've made polenta cake with apples and walnuts before but lemon and ricotta is an intriguing mix. I love both ingredients so why not?
And with your breezy, easy invite and recipe to pour blueberry sauce over the cake, stick some flowers in a vase, I'm ready to put my feet up and enjoy a piece! Oh right, I need to bake it first. Well, at least I've got your stellar recipes now.