Blueberry Polenta Upside-Down Cake
Updated May 11, 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!
So I followed everyone else’s instructions and swapped polenta for cornmeal as a 1:1 substitute. It turned out amazing! If you do attempt polenta the solution is to not mix polenta with dry ingredients. Mix the polenta with wet ingredients and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. This moistens and soften the polenta. I skipped the orange zest and it still had a ton of flavor. I really wouldn’t recommend grating an entire orange but to each their own. It really wasn’t a sweet cake, I think it turned out sweeter for others because of the type of orange juice used. I used no sugar added orange juice. I topped it with extra granulated sugar while warm and sifted powdered sugar. It was awesome on its own but can easily be paired with cool whip or ice cream for more sweetness. 3 cups of blueberries was 15 oz weighed for reference.
I decided to precook the cornmeal in the orange juice to avoid the grit that some people mentioned. The juice was quickly absorbed so I added 3 or 4 oz. water, ending up with a blob the consistency of soft clay. After it cooled, I spun it into the egg mixture before adding the flour. I did nothing to compensate for the extra liquid and it turnout out beautifully moist but not soggy at all, and no grit.
SO delicious! I made this for a dinner party and everyone loved it! It's great by itself, but a little good vanilla ice cream on it was also yummy!