A few years ago, I used to make a delicious lemon drizzle polenta cake that I once saw on Nigella’s cooking show. What I loved most about it was that it was made with ground almonds and polenta so it was naturally gluten-free and incredibly moist. Nothing quite beats the tang of a lemon cake, which is why it is indeed a people pleaser and quite often finds itself part of the classic afternoon tea spread.
Since becoming vegan I hadn’t even attempted to make another one as I felt that nothing could quite measure up to the indulgent Nigella version. But the great thing about being vegan is that friends often send you vegan recipes that they’ve come across in magazines etc and this is exactly what my friend Maria did! Since it was a BBC Good Food recipe, I knew that I was on to a winner and after a couple of tweaks I can now proudly share it with the world!
Traditionally lemon cake is made with caster sugar so feel free to stick with this, however, I try and avoid using refined sugar as much as possible so I substituted it for coconut sugar and it works well. But note that your cake will be slightly more golden in colour once baked. I also get frustrated that so many cake recipes use WAY too much sugar! This one originally had 200g but I decreased it to 120g and it was definitely sweet enough for me. I also added an extra teaspoon of lemon juice as I really like to taste the lemon, again it’s all down to personal preference!
If you want it to look extra fancy you could make a lemon glaze icing out of icing sugar and lemon juice to drizzle over the top or sprinkle it with icing sugar right before serving. I like to have it with a dollop of yoghurt and a handful of blueberries. It makes it feel like a real treat either in the afternoon or gently warmed up as a dessert! Trust me, no one would ever suspect it was vegan. 😃
Ingredients:
- 100ml Olive Oil
- 150g Ground Almonds
- 150g Fine Polenta
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 120g Coconut Sugar or Caster Sugar
- 2 Large Lemons (juice and zest)
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice (Optional)
- 250ml Plant-based yoghurt such as soy, almond or coconut (I used unsweetened soy)
- 50g Icing Sugar
Method:
- Grease and line a 20.5cm cake tin with baking paper
- Mix the almonds, polenta, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a bowl
- Pour the oil into a measuring jug or small bowl and add the sugar, lemon zest & 1 tsp of lemon juice (if using). Stir together until well combined then mix in the yoghurt well
- Place in the tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean
- Once the cake is nearly done make the syrup by mixing together the icing sugar and lemon juice (it should be around 75ml) in a saucepan on the stove over a gentle heat. Once the sugar has dissolved let it cool a little.
- Prick the cake deeply all over and then gently pour the lemon drizzle mixture on top while the cake is still hot. Make sure the holes are all the way through the cake so the mixture can soak through to the very bottom!
- Once the cake is cool, unclip the tin and place the cake on a plate, covered. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar or blueberries and a dollop of yoghurt! It will keep well for 4-5 days covered at room temperature.
If you’ve tried this recipe I would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or SUBSCRIBE via email so you never miss a delicious recipe again! 😀
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