Blueberry Polenta Upside-Down Cake
Updated May 12, 2025
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- Vegetable oil for greasing pan
- 1⅓cup sugar, divided
- 3cups blueberries
- 2large eggs
- Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- ⅔cup orange juice
- ⅔cup olive oil (not extra virgin) or sunflower oil
- ½cup regular or instant polenta
- 1¼cups all-purpose flour
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- ½teaspoon salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
327 calories; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 29 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 171 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line base and sides of a 9-inch-square cake pan with baking parchment, and grease the parchment. Sprinkle ⅓ cup sugar over base of pan, and cover evenly with blueberries.
- Step 2
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, 1 cup sugar and orange zest. Whisk until pale and thick. Add orange juice and oil, and whisk until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together polenta, flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.
- Step 3
Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes, until golden brown and springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool cake on a rack for about 5 minutes. Carefully invert cake onto a serving plate, and slowly peel off parchment paper. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Private Notes
Comments
I was determined to use what I had. So I substituted frozen blueberries, butter and grapeseed oil, and whole wheat ffour and corn flour. I cut the formula in half and used a small, round cast iron pan because that's all I had. I also forgot the wax paper, and probably overcooked it given the halved formula. And it still turned out very well. This is a forgiving, hard-to-screw-up formula/recipe.
Why do you stipulate olive oil, not Virgin olive oil for this recipe?
Cornmeal and frozen blueberries (thawed, slightly drained) worked perfectly for me. Normally I prefer stoneground cornmeal but I tried it both ways, and here, regular/fine-ground cornmeal is better because the stoneground stayed a bit undercooked/crunchy. Not bad but not ideal!
Made recipe for our square 8” pyrex baking dish. That is a ¾ recipe. Used lemon zest instead of orange zest. Used the juice from the lemon plus additional orange juice to meet recipe’s citrus juice component. It’s now in the oven at 170 deg C.
Nice orange and blueberry flavour, but way, way too sweet. Next time, if there is one, I will keep the 1/3 c sugar with the blueberries, but use 1/2 cup only in the cake. Agree with other reviewers that extra virgin olive oil is fine. Also, most upside down cakes are pretty. This one is not, though individual slices with whipped cream on top look nice enough.
Could you use a Bundt pan?