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Video recipe

About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

Fine polenta, juicy apricots, lemon zest, and warm lemon syrup turn into a golden fasting cake baked straight in the air fryer. 🌽🍑

Ingredients

• Polenta cake base 🌽
• 🌽 180 g fine polenta or fine cornmeal (1½ cups / 6.3 oz)
• 🌾 80 g all-purpose flour (⅔ cup / 2.8 oz) gluten
• 🍚 75 g sugar (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp / 2.6 oz)
• 🥄 10 g baking powder (2 tsp / 0.35 oz)
• 🧂 1 g fine sea salt (¼ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🍋 4 g lemon zest (2 tsp / 0.14 oz)
• Wet mix 💧
• 💧 240 ml sparkling water, room temperature (1 cup / 8 fl oz)
• 🌻 55 ml sunflower oil or mild olive oil (¼ cup / 1.85 fl oz)
• 🍋 20 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp / 0.7 fl oz)
• 🍦 5 ml vanilla extract (1 tsp / 0.17 fl oz)
• Apricot layer 🍑
• 🍑 300 g fresh apricots, pitted and sliced (2 cups / 10.6 oz)
• 🍚 15 g sugar (1 tbsp / 0.5 oz)
• 🌾 8 g flour or cornstarch (1 tbsp / 0.28 oz) gluten
• 🍋 2 g lemon zest (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• Lemon syrup 🍋
• 🍚 55 g sugar (¼ cup / 1.9 oz)
• 💧 55 ml water (¼ cup / 1.85 fl oz)
• 🍋 35 ml lemon juice (2 tbsp + 1 tsp / 1.2 fl oz)
• 🍋 2 strips lemon peel
• To serve 🍽️
• 🍑 Extra fresh apricot slices
• 🍋 Lemon zest
• 🌿 Mint, optional
• 🍚 Powdered sugar, optional

Preparation

• 1 Prepare the air fryer pan 🌬️ Use a round 18 cm cake pan or a small square pan that fits your air fryer basket. Line the bottom with baking paper and lightly brush the sides with oil.
• 2 Mix the apricots 🍑 Add sliced apricots to a bowl. Toss with sugar, flour or cornstarch, and lemon zest. This keeps the fruit juicy without making the cake wet.
• 3 Mix the dry base 🌽 In a large bowl, whisk fine polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest until evenly combined.
• 4 Mix the wet base 💧 In a second bowl, mix sparkling water, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla. The sparkling water helps the egg-free cake stay lighter.
• 5 Make the batter 🥣 Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and stir gently until smooth. The batter should be thick but pourable. Let it rest for 5 min so the polenta starts to soften.
• 6 Add the apricots 🍑 Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the apricot slices over the top and press a few lightly into the batter.
• 7 Air fry the cake 🔥 Preheat the air fryer to 160°C (320°F) for 3 min. Place the pan in the basket and air fry for 22–24 min, until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
• 8 Make the lemon syrup 🍋 While the cake air fries, add sugar, water, lemon juice, and lemon peel to a small saucepan. Simmer for 4–5 min, then remove the lemon peel.
• 9 Soak the cake ✨ While the cake is still warm, poke small holes across the top with a toothpick. Spoon the warm lemon syrup slowly over the cake so it sinks into the polenta crumb.
• 10 Rest and slice 🍽️ Let the cake rest in the pan for 15 min. Slice into small squares or wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Timing details

Nutrition

Estimated values per serving.

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