lemon, olive oil, & cornmeal cake

Ya'll (I can officially say I live in Virginia now). Short stories today.

I'm 99% sure that there is zero Italian blood in our lineage. Zero. But we joke all the time how somewhere down the line, those must have been our roots. Our relation to Italian culture and mentality and lifestyle is just too tangible. And for me, there has always been an innate connection to Italy. I'd dreamt of going to Rome ever since I can recall. So in college I studied abroad in a smaller town called Viterbo. And it was glorious and rich and filling and all things wonderful. And now, there are moments when I have to do something, anything, to practice the connection again, so the experiences aren't lost on me. Hence, the cake.

I've been dreaming about this cake for a long, long time. The trio of flavors combined with the simplicity just gives me pure delight. We ate it by ourselves over a few days, but I dream of serving it with lemon sorbetto at a full table with brimming glasses of wine and lots of chatter on a warm summer evening. Dinner parties forever, please.

Here ya go, friends.

Lemon, Olive Oil, & Cornmeal Cake
1 cup AP flour
Heaping 2/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs lemon juice
Zest of 2 large lemons
For glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9" springform pan pretty darn well. Don't want this baby sticking.
Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Separately whisk together wet ingredients, then add wet to dry and whisk until just combined. No over-mixing here, please. A couple lumps are just fine. Pour into your greasy, grungy springform and bake for about 35 minutes, until the center is set and springs back slightly when you touch it. Remove from oven (crucial step), let sit for five minutes or so while you whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze. (Note- this glaze is not very sweet; I like it real lemony. Add more sugar and some water to loosen it up, if you'd like it on the sweeter side.) Pour over the cake and soak until liquid disappears. Serve warm, dusted with powdered sugar and sprinkled with high quality conversation, ya hear?