From the first bite, you experience the soft crunchy texture from cornmeal and ground almonds, the fresh flavor of lemon, and moist richness that comes from olive oil. You will never believe this is gluten-free, dairy-free and can be made low sugar. My go-to cake style dessert: lemon almond cake. Everyone loves it.
Needing a gluten-free, dairy-free dessert for a client, I adapted one of my favorite cake recipes from Deborah Krasner’s The Flavors of Olive Oil: A Tasting Guide and Cookbook to meet the need. By using gluten-free cornmeal, gluten-free flour blend and almond milk instead of dairy milk, this olive oil cake turned out beautifully. Now I always make it this way.
Jump to:
Dessert Cake or Snack Cake
Perfect after dinner with fresh berries, this cake also works with a cup of tea in the afternoon or with a cup of coffee for a weekend breakfast, as it it not overly sweet.
Use a Food Processor
There are many great things about this recipe. It is easy to make and the batter is done quickly in a food processor, then poured into a parchment-lined springform pan and baked. Honestly, I could just eat the batter. I relish licking the spatula and scraping my finger around the food processor bowl after the cake is in the oven.
To Serve
Lemon almond cake can be made two days ahead, wrapped and refrigerated. I think it would also freeze well, but it never lasts that long. No frosting require, just a dusting of powdered sugar (optional). Sometimes I add a little whipped cream or whipped coconut cream on top for a nice finish. And add those berries. Berry sauce is be nice to.
To Reduce Sugar by Half
If you want to reduce sugar, try substituting part of the sugar for monk fruit/erythritol blend or your substitute of preference. For a vegan version, try making it with an egg substitute or use flaxseed instead of the egg. No matter how you make it, it could become one of your regular recipes too.
For another easy cake made in a springform pan, try this delicious cherry cake.
📖 Recipe
Lemon Almond Polenta Cake (Gluten-Free)
Equipment
- Springform pan
Ingredients
- ½ cup gluten-free cornmeal medium to coarse grind
- ½ cup all purpose gluten-free flour blend
- 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 ½ cups whole raw almonds 7 ½ ounces
- 1 cup unrefined natural raw sugar to reduce sugar see below
- 1 large lemon
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk I use homemade, recipe on this site
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Optional Garnishes
- Powdered sugar to finish before serving
- Fresh berries
- Whipped cream
- Food processor with steel knife
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9” springform pan with non-stick spray and line with a parchment round cut to fit the bottom. In a medium bowl, whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt together.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel knife, pulse the almonds and sugar for about 30 seconds. They should have a coarse, sandy texture.
- Cut lemon in half. Juice one half to get 1 ½ tablespoons; discard rind and add juice to the food processor. Pick the seeds from the other lemon half, cut lemon half into four pieces and add to the food processor. Process for 45 seconds. Scrape down the bowl with a flexible spatula. Add oil, almond milk, eggs and almond extract. Process for 1 ½ minutes. Add the cornmeal/flour mixture and give it a few long pulses to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 45-60 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. A cake tester or toothpick comes out with just moist crumbs attached. Timing depends on your ovens.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then run a thin bladed knife around the inside edge of the pan. Release the spring, remove the bottom pan and parchment and cool on a wire rack. Let cool completely. Serve as desired with berries, whipped cream, whipped coconut milk or plain. The cake will hold for two days wrapped well and refrigerated.
Eva Chowaniec says
The cake looks just wonderful! I have to go and get the ingredients for it tomorrow!
One question though: Is it possible to substitute the sugar with Stevia in liquid or powdered form?
Thank you for this wonderful recipe and the mouth-watering pictures!
Sally says
Hi Eva. I'm not sure. I've never tried it. It's harder to substitute ingredients when baking. If you are looking for an alternative sweetener other than sugar, have you tied coconut sugar? Even if you used half of the sugar and just a little stevia. That might work, although it is not as sweet as sugar, and this is not a very sweet cake anyway. Thinking about the recipe and process, the sugar is ground in the food processor with the almonds. If you used powdered stevia, it would be different in terms of the texture of the meal that you are making. It would be less in volume for one thing. I'm thinking that the cake might come out flatter, which would not be bad. If you decide to try it please report back and let me know how it works. I will have to try it that way myself as an experiment, then update the post and recipe with a note. It really is a delicious cake!
gitika partington says
thanks
adapted because I did not have everything...used dark dark sugar, coconut milk instead of almond milk, and vanilla instead of almond essence.....and was still lovely thanks
made it for my choir and it all went!!!!! I did cook it for an extra 20 mins though as I was using fan assisted oven and took the temp down 5degrees...put it back up to 160 after an hour...still looked a bit like it was undercooked in the middle on top...but it was absolutely fine! "best cake" said Mr P. ans I am no cake maker ( am now)
Dianne Jacob says
I took this cake to a friends' place for a housewarming gift. My friend Tom had 3 servings! Then he sent an email the next morning saying he and his wife had it for breakfast. So I would say it's a success. It was rich yet light, great texture, and I loved the lemon and almond flavors. I was sad to give it up as a gift.
Dr. Patrick Mahaney says
Looks delicious, as usual! I am a huge fan of polenta, so it is nice to see its' nontraditional use in a cake.
PM
Jennifer (Delicieux) says
Firstly, let me say I love your photo of the gorgeous cake. Yum!
I make a lemon almond cake but I love the idea of including polenta. I will have to try this. Thanks for sharing 😀
Jayne says
That looks and sounds amzing!
Mike says
Fantstic cake recipe! Can't wait to bake this one for the family party this weekend and I learned you can mix a cake batter in a food processor.
-------------
Thanks and Regards
Mike
blenders and food processors
Maribel says
This couldn't come at a better time as we are going to a get together this weekend where the host is gluten intolerant! Thanks, Sally!
Michelle K says
Yum! Got to try this one first hand it had a wonderful medley of flavors and textures. Went wonderfully with the fresh organic strawberries and was very satisfying after dinner. Thanks!!
Stephanie Weaver says
I can vouch for this amazing cake! It's incredible. The photos came out fantastic! 🙂