Lavender Polenta Coffee Cake Recipes

LAVENDER-POLENTA COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg. Butter and flour a 9" springform pan. In a small bowl, stir together the raisins and brandy let stand 10 minutes to plump. In another bowl, stir together the polenta, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, honey and yogurt. Using an electric mixer, beat on med-low speed until just blended. Set aside 3 T pine nuts for the topping. Add the polenta mixture, raisins and remaining pine nuts to the egg mixture and beat on low speed until batter is almost smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the reserved pine nuts over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. test with toothpick. GLAZE: Make the glaze i a small saucepan over med. heat, combine the honey, lemon juice, zest and lavender. Bring to boil, stirring until honey is dissolved. Remove from heat. Let cool. Transfer cake to a wire rack. Immediately poke the top all over with a thin wooden skewer and brush top with half glaze. Invert cake onto rack, lift off bottom, repeat process with the other half glaze. Reinvert cake and let cool. Makes one 9" coffee cake.

QUINCE POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan.
• Place quince in a bowl and cover with fresh water; add lemon juice and set aside.
• Cream together eggs and cane sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed until pale. Add almond meal, polenta, yogurt, orange juice, orange zest, and baking powder and mix until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared cake pan.
• Drain the quince and top the batter with quince slices, pushing down slightly to make them fit.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cover cake with aluminum foil and continue baking until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes more.
• Allow to cool about 30 minutes before topping with sliced almonds.

LEMON POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line the bottom of a 10-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
• Beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next.
• In a separate bowl, combine the almond meal, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Gently fold it into the butter mixture, stirring just until combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 90 to 120 minutes.
• While the cake is baking, combine the lemon juice and superfine sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat.
• Remove the cake from the oven and use a skewer or toothpick to prick holes in the cake. Pour the lemon syrup over the surface. Allow the cake to cool in the pan completely before serving.

WHITE WINE & OLIVE OIL POLENTA CAKE WITH LAVENDER SYRUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare an 8" cake pan for baking by cutting a parchment circle for the bottom. Next spray the inside of the pan with cooking spray, add the circle and spray the top of the circle so that all parts that the cake will touch are covered with a thin layer of cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, 1 cup sugar, and wine until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, polenta, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and rosemary until well combined. Pour in the liquid mixture and stir until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
• While the cake is cooking, make the lavender syrup. Heat the sugar and the water together in a small saucepan. Let this come to a low boil with a minimum of stirring and cook for about 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Set aside.
• Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; place a cake plate on the top of the cake pan. Holding both securely, turn both over at once so that the cake is now lying on the cake plate on your counter. Remove the pan and the parchment paper.
• Take a toothpick and poke little holes all over the top of your cake. Slowly pour the syrup all over the top so that it seeps into the cake. Serve and enjoy!

LEMON POLENTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the base of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and butter sides; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and superfine sugar until pale and fluffy.
• In a medium bowl, mix together almond meal, polenta, and baking powder. Add some of the almond meal mixture to the bowl with the butter mixture and beat to combine. Add one egg and mix until combined. With the mixer on low, continue alternating adding remaining almond meal mixture and 2 eggs; mix until well combined. Add lemon zest and mix just to combine.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and transfer to oven; bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs and cake begins to pull away from sides of the pan, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, mix together lemon juice and confectioners' sugar; place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved; remove syrup from heat.
• Using a cake tester, prick holes all over the top of the cake; pour warm syrup over cake and let cool completely. Remove from pan and serve.

LEMON POLENTA CAKE WITH LAVENDER SYRUP AND RASPBERRIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180 C or 360 F or Gas mark 4.
• Sift the polenta, flour, baking powder & salt into a bowl.
• Tip the yoghurt, oil, lemon zest & juice into a jug and stir to combine.
• Beat the eggs and egg whites with half the sugar until thick and creamy.
• Fold in the dry ingredients.
• Pour the batter into a greased & lined 2 pint loaf tin.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until set & a skewer comes out clean.
• Put the remaining sugar into a pan with 7 fl oz of water and the lavender heads.
• Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Cool completely & then strain into a clean jug.
• Whilst the cake is still warm, prick the top and drizzle over half the syrup, saving the rest to serve with the cake later.
• TO SERVE:.
• Serve with extra syrup, raspberries, creme fraiche & a sprig of lavender.
• The normal portions I use are 2 thin slices on each plate, overlapped for effect and then a drizzle of syrup around the slices with raspberries scattered over the top and a rounded tablespoon of creme fraiche to one side.