When life gives you lemons make a cake!

Heartbreak & Bakin’ Cakes 

     What is a gluten free/dairy free girl to do when her heart is broken? There is no refuge in a pint of chocolate ice cream, there is no comfort in a box of Hostess Snack Cakes. You must pull yourself up by your apron strings and feed your heart ache, because let's be honest no one else is doing it for you!
So upon being essentially dumped I found myself sad and decided I should revisit this thing call living and eating. I was not hungry as much as I was starved for the delight and comfort that a lovely dessert or dish lends you. I realized that I was going to have to make all those things I used to just pick up at the market. I thought to myself I cannot be alone! There must be a lot of guys and dolls that find themselves in my position…searching for the things they used to love in a GF/DF life. So I got to work.
When life gives you lemons make a darn lemon polenta cake!
After a few days of crying and being overall pretty pathetic I ventured out doors to pick some fresh citrus and grab some other key ingredients.

Citrus Polenta Cake

1 C. Almond Meal
3 Eggs
½ of Gluten Free Flour (I used GF pancake mix)
¾ C. of fine or instant polenta
2 t. of baking powder
1 t. of Kosher Salt
1 C. Sugar
2 Lemons (I used meyer)
1 Orange
Preheat the oven to 325 F and position a rack in the center. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray, dust the pan with rice or GF flour, and tap to knock out the excess. Grate the zest from the lemon, lime, and orange, setting the zests aside for the cake batter and reserving the fruit for the glaze.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl whisk the eggs and granulated sugar together until they are pale yellow and become smooth and volumous. Beat in the reserved citrus zests.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the olive oil to the egg mixture; begin with one third of the dry ingredients, then add half the oil, followed by another third of the dry ingredients, beating only until each addition is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining olive oil, followed by the last third of the dry ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. The cake is done when it springs back lightly when touched and pulls away from the sides of the pan, and when a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 12 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove the sides of the pan and allow the cake to cool completely.

Once the cake is out of the oven, place a saucepan over medium high heat and add the sugar, juice and zest. Bring to a boil, turn down to a vigorous simmer and cook until the mixture has reduced to a thick syrup.


If you prefer chocolate you can make a chocolate sauce.
In a double boiler (I used a glass bowl on top of a sauce pan). Combine:
2/3 c. of gf chocolate chips
Fresh orange juice
Zest of orange
Mix together until smooth. Pour over cake and enjoy!