This recipe caught my eye with its bold statement: “Best Lemon Cake Ever”. “Well now, we’ll just see about that!”, I thought! Oh wow, they didn’t exaggerate — it’s the most amazing, moist, lemon-y, delicious little cake you could eat! I also love that this kind of cake allows for so much flexibility of when it’s acceptable to enjoy it. Breakfast? Sure! Lunch? Absolutely! Pre-dinner snack? Why not?!
Let it sit after glazing — overnight is not too long, but I’d understand if you can’t wait until then. By putting the lemon sugar on the cake while it’s still hot, you ensure a delightfully moist and sinfully delicious treat. We only allowed it to sit for a couple hours, but that was enough for us! YUM. Not only should you make this “just because”, but it would also be fantastic at a potluck or BBQ, since it just gets better with time!
Lemon Cornmeal Cake
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
For the cake:
Baking spray (cooking spray with flour)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
For the glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
Heat oven to 325°F.
Using a 10-cup decorative tube pan or a 12-cup Bundt pan, coat with baking spray and set aside. Place a wire rack inside a baking sheet covered in foil (to catch drippings) and spray the rack with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice with a mixer (or using the beater attachment on a stand mixer) on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. With mixer on low, alternatively beat in flour mixture and buttermilk or yogurt until batter is mixed and fairly smooth (careful not to over mix).
Scrape mixture into prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake 50-65 minutes until a wooden pick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cook cake on wire rack for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the glaze by whisking glaze ingredients together in a small bowl (sugar will not totally be dissolved).
Invert cake from pan onto the rack that was placed over a baking sheet. Brush glaze all over hot cake until absorbed (sugar crystals will be evident). Cool completely. Transfer cake to a serving plate and cover, allowing cake to rest several hours or overnight.
Enjoy with reckless abandonment! Serves 20. Store, covered at room temperature, for up to 4 days.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great suggestion, Lee! I’ll get to work on that feature!
It would be nice if you had a printer friendly version. I don’t like having to print eight pages for one little recipe
I tore a page from an old BH&G while at the hairdressers and made this cake. Outstanding! Then I lost the magazine page. I Googled and found the recipe again…Yea! You can also use Key Limes, and Oranges interchangably instead of lemons. I’ve done it and got rave reviews on the Key Lime version. Hardest part was grating and squeezing enough of those little Key Limes to get enough zest and juice. I also enhanced glaze and cake with a little of corresponding food coloring. I say two thumbs up and 5 stars! Ann Hopewell
I am anxiously making the cake right now! I can’t wait to try it. I wanted to point out that you appear to have left out the quantity of baking powder required. I did find the same recipe elsewhere and it appears to call for 2 tsp’s. I would so appreciate you correcting the recipe on line! Thanks
This looks amazing and so tasty!! I LOVE LEMON CAKE and although I am not a baker, I may just have to try this one when I get back to the US.
I am drooling!
That glistening glaze caught my eye and the cornmeal was icing on the cake. This recipe looks like a keeper. Lovely photo!
TN, I love the texture of cornmeal, too! It really add a little extra something! Thanks for stopping by!
Cornmeal caught my eye; I love the texture it imparts to pancakes, muffins, etc. and this cake – well – takes the cake!! 8-D