Friday, March 29, 2013

THB : Lavender-Lemon Polenta Cake

It's time for The Home Bakers' bake today, and for our bake no 16, this lovely Lavender-Lemon Polenta Cake was chosen by Angela from The Charmed Cupcakes. Angela is a talented baker and as you can tell by the name of her blog, she loves cupcakes! Drop by The Charmed Cupcakes to view her creative and delicious cupcakes, believe me, you would be swooned!

The original name for this bake is Rosemary-Lemon Polenta Cake, but there's a variation for making this with dried lavender. Since I do not have any rosemary at hand, I used the dried lavender that I bought a  couple of months ago. 


I have replaced the buttermilk with a mixture of homemade yoghurt and milk, which are heated briefly together with the dried lavenders. This mixture is then poured over the cornmeal, and let stand for 1 hour to soften. I've made half a recipe and has reduced the sugar slightly to 1/3 cup, which is just nice. 


This cake has a lovely golden crust and a moist, soft, tender texture. The lovely floral scent of the lavender is really nice. The addition of cornmeal gives a very nice texture to this cake, since it was soaked and softened before baking, you cannot really taste the grainy cornmeal, in fact it balances off very nicely in terms of flavour and texture. Recipe includes a Lavender-Lemon Syrup for drizzling over the cake, but I have omitted that. I think this cake is good on it's own. A slice of this cake is very nice with a cup of warm tea.

Please visit Angela of The Charmed Cupcake for the full recipe, and to view the other members' bake, drop by The Home Bakers.



Welcome to The Home Bakers


We are a group of home bakers who are currently baking from "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas, until each recipe from this book has been baked. This is our bake no. 16 and we have 44 recipes more to go. If you are interested to be a member and join in our bakes, you may drop me an email at kitchenflavours@yahoo.com.

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18 comments:

  1. I thinks sounds and look delicious!! I love polenta and lavender!

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  2. good morning joyce, i'll see to use lavender or rosemary..quite curious to see how it taste like..will be baking mine soon :D

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  3. Hi Joyce
    I am curious too how this cake taste with lavender and lemon but I can see the texture of this cake is moist.

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  4. cake looks so delicious and mouthwatering. Very unique ingredients that were used, would try them out soon.
    Deepa

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  5. Lavender and lemon combo sounds interesting ! The cake looks moist and the lavender in it sure looks very pretty :)

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  6. This is great, Joyce! Last year I bought a packet of polenta after seeing some nice recipes. But "hangat-hangat tahi ayam" only, up till now the packet still not opened! Must use them soon before they expire.

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  7. The texture is really gorgeous! I love this cake very much.

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  8. This cake, the texture of it looks so tempting to me. A very successful bake, Joyce.

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  9. Hi Joyce,

    You cake turned out beautiful and very moist indeed. I would love to try the lavender version but unfortunately my husband is allergic to lavender. It must be really fragrant!! I can't wait to see which flavours everyone else bakes :)

    I really enjoyed this cake, wish I had a slice now for afternoon tea.

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  10. You have a very nice even color on the crust which I like very much! Texture looks good too! and can imagine how fragrant it is.

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  11. I have yet to bake with polenta. This looks delicious.

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  12. I never tried to bake lavender. But it's something restaurant do a lot. You're a Chef étoilé ! :D

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  13. Joyce, your cake looks good with the speckles of lavender in it :) Best for a warm of cup of tea like you said ;) Glad we enjoyed this bake!

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  14. The cake sounds amazing flavoured with lavender with lemon.

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  15. Hi Joyce,
    Love this cake! Gonna get more cornmeal and make it again with thyme!

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  16. Hi Joyce,
    I was at Hock Choon, Ampang yesterday. Managed to get both Polenta and Semola (by mistake) so I should be ready for a second bake soon!

    I met Marie (a Greek lady) who was rather surprised that we are baking a cake with Polenta! Told her about THB and Lou Seibert Pappas's book! Hope she will drop by for a visit.

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  17. Great idea using lavender! It is indeed a very moist flavorful cake . Baked mine a couple of weeks ago but totally forgotten to post it or even draft it!. I've been running like a headless chicken for weeks ! LOL

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  18. oo laa laa. i've not use the lavendar yet. must be good.

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