Cornmeal Cake
Tender, fragrant cake with cornmeal, lemon zest and raisins. Slightly crisp outside, soft inside, perfect with tea or coffee.
Updated : 15 December, 2025
Easy
About 45 min.
Ingredients
200 grams
Cornmeal
150 grams
Butter
150 grams
Raisins
140 grams
Sugar
3
Eggs
1 tablespoon
Lemon juice
1 tablespoon
Lemon zest
1 grams
Salt
0.5 teaspoon
Baking soda
Table
Table of volume measurements:
- teaspoon - 5 ml
- dessert spoon - 10 ml
- tablespoon - 20 ml
- glass - 200 ml
Advices
Advice
Be prepared that you may need more or less flour than indicated in the recipe. Focus not on the amount of flour, but on the desired consistency of the batter.
Preparation
Step 1
How to make a cornmeal cake? First, prepare all the necessary ingredients.
Step 2
Rinse the raisins and pat them dry. If the raisins are very dry, pour boiling water over them and leave for 5-7 minutes.
Step 3
Then drain the water and dry the raisins. If you wish, you can replace the raisins with other dried fruit such as dried apricots or prunes.
Step 4
In a bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar and beat with a mixer until smooth.
Step 5
Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture for about 1 minute after each addition.
Step 6
You should end up with a soft, light and fluffy mixture.
Step 7
Sift the cornmeal through a sieve and add it to the batter together with the salt and baking soda. Beat with a mixer until smooth. If you like, you can replace part of the cornmeal with regular wheat flour.
Step 8
Add the lemon zest and pour in the lemon juice. Mix on low speed until the batter is homogeneous.
Step 9
Add the raisins to the batter and fold them in with a spatula or spoon.
Step 10
Spread the batter into a rectangular loaf pan greased with butter (mine is 31×12 cm / about 12×5 in) and smooth the surface. Run a knife lengthwise along the center of the batter to make a shallow line so that the cake doesn’t crack randomly while baking.
Step 11
Bake the cake in a preheated 180 °C (about 355 °F) oven for around 40 minutes. The exact time depends on your oven; I can give only approximate timing. For me, baking took about 1 hour. Cornmeal is firmer than wheat flour, so it doesn’t absorb moisture immediately. The cake did not burn, but browned nicely. If the cake is already browned on top but not done inside, cover it with foil. Remove the finished cake from the oven, cover it with a kitchen towel and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Step 12
Transfer the cooled cake to a serving plate, dust with powdered sugar and cut into slices. Enjoy!
Author note
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