Blueberry Polenta Upside-Down Cake
Updated May 11, 2025
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
Vegetable oil for greasing pan
1 ⅓ cup sugar, divided
3 cups blueberries
2 large eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
⅔ cup orange juice
⅔ cup olive oil (not extra virgin) or sunflower oil
½ cup regular or instant polenta
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (9 to 12 servings)
46 grams carbs; 31 milligrams cholesterol; 327 calories; 7 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 15 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 171 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 29 grams sugar
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?
I substituted the zest of 2 lemons for the orange zest, and also added a sprinkling of lemon zest to the blueberries themselves. This is insanely delicious. I disagree with reviewers who find it too sweet, I would say it's not very sweet at all, perfect for breakfast or tea. Fine-ground cornmeal works best; stone-ground will leave a few crunchy bits. I've used several different kinds of oil, I honestly don't think it matters much. Finally, this cake is best the next day.
Easy and yummy. Had semolina flour on hand so used that instead of polenta. Had lemons, so used lemon juice/zest in lieu of the orange and that worked well for me with the amount of sugar in the recipe (if I had used OJ, I would have reduced the sugar per many of the comments). I also subbed 1 TBSP ground flax seed + 3 TBSPs water for one of the eggs ... since eggs have become so costly, have started doing that in my baking. Easy, pretty, yummy, fast, & little different.
Frozen blueberries worked just fine. I also omitted the sugar in the bottom of the pan and used just over ½ C of brown sugar in the cake mixture. That cut the total amount of sugar by more than half, making it far healthier. My wife thought it needed a bit more, but I thought it was just right. The polenta added flavour and crunch. Canola oil worked just fine. "Carefully invert onto a serving plate" didn't work at all. There was too much liquid that leaked out.
Added a couple tbs of orange blossom water in the orange juice and it added a beautiful floral element to this delicious and simple cake (blueberries were absolutely outstanding, height of the season). No pieces left after the block party! ✨