Lemon polenta, almond and pistachio cake

This recipe is an inspiration and adaptation from the book “Fatto in casa” by Giorgio Locatelli.

• 130 g of (fine) yellow corn flour 
• 175 g of almond flour
• 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
• 4 eggs*
• 50 g of pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 170 g of light brown demerara sugar 
• 170 g of softened butter
• a tablespoon of milk to help work the dough if needed 
• grated zest of 2-3 organic lemons
• lemon juice from 2-3 organic lemons to finish off the baked  cake

In a large bowl start working the softened butter with the sugar until the mixture turns pale and the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon zest and one egg at a time stirring the dough all the time. Personally I like to separate the eggs*, whisk the egg yolks and incorporate them towards the very end just before baking the cake. 

Mix the corn flour with almond flour and the baking powder and start adding it to the egg mixture. Stir everything well until well combined. Now add the chopped pistachios and give it a final stir.

Grease with butter and line with baking parchment a baking tin, either of rectangular or round shape 24 cm in diameter, pour in the cake dough. Even out the surface and bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven to 180 C. In case the top of the cake starts turning too dark, loosely cover it with a sheet of an aluminium foil.

Once the cake has baked, take it out from the oven and leave to cool down completely.

To finish the cake.

Once the cake has cooled down pour evenly over the cake the lemon juice. You can do that while the cake is still in the tin or already on a serving plate (but before slicing it). Wait until the juice has been fully absorbed before you pour over more of it.

I find the cake to be sweet enough already and the lemon juice adds the sharpness and balances it perfectly. However, if you would like to decorate it with a sugar glaze, perhaps lower the amount of sugar given by the recipe.