Lemon Olive Oil Cake
11⁄2 cups flour
1⁄3 cup yellow cornmeal
3⁄4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1⁄4 cup olive oil (I used Calolea Meyer Lemon, from our Farmers Market)
1 teaspoon lemon oil or vanilla
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 inch high sides and line bottom with parchment paper.
Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel, and flavoring in small bowl. Whisk together butter and olive oil. Pour buttermilk and butter mixture into flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture until just blended. Do not stir. Scrape batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake about 30 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out clean.
Before cake is finished baking, in a sauce pan combine 1⁄2 cup of sugar and 1⁄3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice over low heat to make a syrup. Cook to thicken for a couple of minutes. Spoon syrup over cake after it comes out of the oven while it is still warm. Remove from pan.
