Have you tried baking a cake with cornmeal? If not, let this Lemon Cornmeal Cake With Blueberries Convince you to try!
What Makes This Cornmeal Cake So Good?
First of all the texture is awesome. I love the addition of cornmeal into a light fluffy cake recipe. I am pretty sure you will love it too.
The lemon+blueberry+buttercream combo is to die for. It is tangy, sweet, creamy, and tart all rolled into 1.
It is a crowd-pleaser. Every time I make this cake, it quickly becomes the favorite dish I am serving. Trust me on this.
Ingredients
- Whole wheat pastry flour- this is my favorite wheat flour to use in cakes. It is a lower protein, so you still get the light tender texture. If you have never used whole wheat pastry flour, you need to try!!
- All-purpose flour- I love using a blend of whole wheat and all-purpose. It is healthier without sacrificing the texture.
- Cornmeal
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice
- Greek Yogurt- a must for soft baked goods.
- Butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Powdered Sugar
- Blueberries
Making The Lemon Cornmeal Cake
- Prepare your pans for baking.
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest. I will explain more about this below.
- Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
- Add in eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and lemon juice.
- Last up is the dry ingredients. Make sure only mix to combine.
- Divide between the 2 pans.
- Bake, remove it from the pan. Allow it to cool.
- While the cake is cooling, make your buttercream.
- Now it is time to assemble. Set one cake on your stand. Spread icing on the top.
- Press your next cake on top of this one gently. Again, ice the top and sides.
- Decorate as desired. I used blueberries, lemon slices, and edible flowers.
- That is it. Now, sit back and enjoy. You deserve it!
How To Get The Best Lemon Flavor
Let me tell you a trick I learned a long time ago that has made a huge difference when I am baking citrus baked goods.
Zest your lemon, then mix it with the granulated sugar before mixing it into the cake. It sounds simple, right?
But, this little trick helps the lemon zest to be more evenly dispersed. It works so much better.
Wondering what I use to get my lemon zest? It is called a Microplane. It is my favorite way to get zest from citrus.
Notes For Making The Cornmeal Cake
Here are a few things to note when making this cake that will help you have the best results.
When you are baking with whole wheat flour, it is important not to overmix. This will make cakes like this tough. So, when you are mixing the batter, make sure only to mix to combine.
Another thing to note, do not overbake. This is also really important when we are talking about whole wheat baked goods. I recommend pulling them out when they are SLIGHTLY underbaked. Just barely.
There are so many beautiful edible flowers you can use on your baked goods. They bring such a pretty light to the baked goods, especially cakes!
Prepping your baking pans
These steps might seem a little extra, but I promise you, it is so nice not having to worry about whether or not they will come out. This is a really great safety net. Start by buttering your pan with softened butter.
Next, cut a circle of parchment paper. Do this by tracing the bottom of the pan on the parchment, then cut out. I make sure and cut any traces of the pen or pencil off the circle.
Now, place the parchment in the pan. Some people like to flour the pan also. I think this is a little too much. I find the butter and parchment circle are enough.
Icing And Decorating The Cornmeal Cake
Now, let's put together this cake! Make sure your cakes are completely cooled before starting. If it isn't cooled, your icing will melt and make a mess of the cake! Trust me, I know!
You can level your cake, but I didn't feel like it needed it. I simply started layering. So, place your bottom layer on a cake plate or even just a dinner plate, as I did. Spread icing on your first layer. This is easiest to do with an offset spatula.
Add your next layer.
I wanted this to be one of those naked cakes that have become so popular lately. These are also the simplest to ice! All you need to do is add a thin layer and using your spatula, brush on lightly.
Last up is decorating. I use fresh blueberries, thinly sliced lemons, and edible flowers. I used bachelor's buttons, but there are plenty of other edible flowers you can use too!
FAQ Lemon Cornmeal Cake
You can. The whole wheat pastry is my favorite as it is a lower protein flour. I think it produces superior results to other higher protein flours (red and white wheat, spelt, einkorn, etc.).
As long as this cake is wrapped well, it will last up to 4 days in the fridge. It can also be frozen as well, remember to wrap well. It is good for at least a month in the freezer. If you decide to freeze, just take off the berries. They do not freeze well.
Strawberries and raspberries are also really good with this cake! Blackberries would be a delicious option as well.
Other Dessert Ideas
- Creamy Mascarpone Fruit Dip
- Strawberry Sugar Cookie Bars
- Raspberry Almond Shortbread Bites
- No-Bake Lime Cheesecake
- Apple Pie
- Cherry Slab Pie
- Cherry Ice Cream Float
- Roasted Plums
- Red White and Blue Overnight Oats
Lemon Cornmeal Cake
Equipment
- 2- 8 inch cake pans, medium bowl for mixing
Ingredients
Lemon Cornmeal Cake Batter
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour If you do not want to use whole wheat flour, just use all-purpose in it's place. It really is good both ways.
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour Remember when measuring flour to use to scoop and scrape method. Scoop it into our measuring cup with a spoon then level it.
- ½ cup cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 cup sour cream or nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Lemon Buttercream
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- fresh lemon juice I used about 2 tablespoons. You may need more or less depending on how thick you like you icing.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Butter your cake pans with softened butter. I like to use a parchment on the bottoms of the pans as well, it is optional, but it makes it so much easier. If you want to do this, place your cake pan on the parchment paper and trace around the bottom. Cut that circle, making sure to cut off the pen or paper markings so that won't be baked in your cake :). Place the parchment circle in the bottom of your buttered pan and set aside. Combine your flours, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.In another small bowl, mix your sugar and lemon zest. I like to do this as I think it helps to evenly distribute the lemon zest through the batter. Set aside. Now, add butter and lemon sugar to medium sized bowl and beat with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy. You can also do this by hand, just be ready for a good arm workout!Next, add in eggs, vanilla, yogurt and lemon juice. Mix to combine. Last up is the dry ingredients. Add them in. Don't over mix here, only mix just to combine. Divide the batter between your 2 cake pans as evenly as possible. Spread to flatten. Place in oven on medium shelf.Bake for 20-35 minutes. I give a good variation in time as there are always a few variables. Like, what your actual oven temp is, the thickness of your cake pan, and altitude. I like to test with toothpick. Insert carefully in the center of the cake. I check at about 20 minutes, and go from there. You want the toothpick to come out fairly clean, but not perfectly clean. I also use the touch test. Gently, very gently, press the middle of the cake. If it feels almost all the way done, it is good. All baked goods have a certain amount of carry over cooking that happens even once it is removed from the heat source. Cake especially still have plenty of residual heat once removed. This means they will continue to cook even after they are removed. So, with whole grain baked goods, make sure it isn't baked all the way through. It should be a touch under done, just a touch. Then as it finished cooking, it will be perfectly baked. Now, remove from oven and allow to cool on cooling rack for about 7-10 minutes. Next invert cake pan on cooling rack or into your hands. While it is upside down, remove the parchment paper. Then place on the cooling rack on the bottom to allow it to finish cooling. Once it is finished cooling, move to icing. I made this a naked cake. What that means is it is barely skimmed with icing on the outside. Ice as shown in post. Top the cake with whatever fruits you are into. If you have edible flowers, use those as well as they make such a beautiful presentation. Now, sit back and enjoy. You deserve it!
Lemon Buttercream
- Add butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest to medium bowl. Add in about ¼ cup fresh lemon juice to start. Blend on high until the icing is light and fluffy. Add more fresh lemon juice as needed to get the consistency you are looking for. Ice cake as desired.