This is my ideal cake, easy to assemble, fast to cook, delicious plain with tea, or a little decadent with berries and whipped cream. I don’t usually bother buying buttermilk, I just add a tablespoon of lemon juice to plain milk, that way I don’t waste the rest of the carton. If you want to learn about the different results baking in Convection vs Regular Bake, I recommend you give this a try in each mode, both will be delicious, but you will notice a difference in texture.

INGREDIENTS

1 - stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 ½ - cups, all purpose flour

⅓ - cup yellow cornmeal

¾ - cup granulated sugar

3 ½ - teaspoons baking powder

½ - teaspoon salt

1 - cup buttermilk ( add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to one cup milk and let sit for 30 minutes)

2 - large eggs

2 - tablespoons grated lemon peel

¾ - teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven Convection 325 or Bake 350 degrees and butter a 9” cake pan.

Gently melt the butter in a small pan then set it aside to cool while you assemble the other ingredients.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel and vanilla in a large jug or medium sized bowl.

Stir in the melted butter then pour into the flour mixture and gently blend with a rubber spatula.

Scrape into the pan and smooth out - place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the tester comes out clean.

Let the pan cook for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the cake, place a cooling rack over the pan and invert the cake onto the rack. Place a plate on top of the cake and invert it one more time and remove the rack.