When I first started baking, I only made two things y’all: cornbread and pound cake. Creating a cornmeal cake seemed like the next evolution boos. I love how unique the texture is in this cake. You get a little of that cornmeal grit but it isn’t overbearing. Plus I make the base sweet, moist and buttery too. The whole thing is no fuss but super versatile so you can serve it for breakfast or add whipped cream and berries and serve it up for dessert.
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How to Make Cornmeal Cake
Step 1: Mix the Batter
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of your mixer and mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time beating on medium speed after each incorporation.
- Add in the cornmeal, flour, and baking soda and mix on low until well blended into batter.
- Add the milk and vanilla extract. Continue to mix until the batter is smooth and everything is well incorporated.
Step 2: Bake the Cake
- Spray a loaf-sized baking pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Add the batter to a loaf pan and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Take the loaf pan from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the loaf pan and continue to cool it on a wire rack.
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Cornmeal Cake Recipe
My Cornmeal Cake recipe is perfectly moist, sweet, buttery, and rich with a classic flavor of pound cake but combined with the slight graininess from cornmeal.
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Servings: 12 servings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add butter and sugar and mix on high speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Turn mixer down to medium speed and add in eggs and egg yolk one at a time beating after each incorporation.
- Next turn mixer down to low speed and add in cornmeal, flour, kosher salt and baking soda until well blended into batter.
- Add milk and vanilla extract and continue to mix until batter is smooth and well incorporated.
- Generously spray a 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Add batter to loaf pan and bake in oven for 38-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
- Take loaf pan from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
- Next remove cake from loaf pan and continue to cool on wire rack then serve.
Notes
Tips
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- Mixing the Cake. Pay attention to the different speeds used when adding different ingredients. It’s important to the overall texture of the cake and lowering the speed will help avoid over-mixing the cake.
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- Don’t Over Mix the Cake. Especially after adding the flour. You want to mix just long enough to incorporate all the ingredients.
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- Measure Your Ingredients Properly. Spoon the flour and cornmeal into a measuring cup and then level it off with a knife. This prevents packing too much flour into the cup when scooping. Use a liquid measuring cup so you can better see the line for measuring the correct amount.
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- Don’t Use Regular Milk. Coconut milk and buttermilk add more moisture to the cake than regular milk. So for the best texture avoid swapping it.
Storage
Once at room temp, wrap it up in some plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or pop it into an airtight container to keep it fresh.How long will cornmeal cake last?
Stored at room temperature, your cake will stay fresh and delicious for up to 3-4 days; for longer storage, keep it in the refrigerator, where it will last for about a week.Can I freeze cornbread cake?
Yep for sure boos! When freezing, take special care to wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to keep it well protected. Thaw it out on the counter overnight to serve it up the next morning.Nutrition
Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 16mg | Potassium: 68mg | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 420IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1.2mg
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Recipe Tips
- Mixing the Cake. Pay attention to the different speeds used when adding different ingredients. It’s important to the overall texture of the cake.
- Don’t Over Mix the Cake. Especially after adding the flour. You want to mix just long enough to incorporate all the ingredients but not too much or it will become dense.
- Measure Your Ingredients Properly. Spoon the flour and cornmeal into a measuring cup and then level it off with a knife. This prevents packing too much flour into the cup when scooping. Use a liquid measuring cup so you can better see the line for measuring the correct amount.
- Don’t Use Regular Milk. Coconut milk and buttermilk add more moisture to the cake than regular milk. So for the best texture avoid swapping it.
Recipe Help
Does this taste like cornbread?
Not really. It has a much more tender texture to it than cornbread which comes from the higher amount of sugar and flour than cornbread contains.
Why is my cornmeal cake dry?
If your cake ends up dry be sure to check that you used the proper ingredients and correct measurements. Also, be sure you don’t over mix or overbake as both these issues can result in a tough, dry cake.
More Simple Cake Recipes to Try
- Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Brown Sugar Pound Cake
- Strawberry Cornmeal Cake
- Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
- Kentucky Butter Cake Recipe
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
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I made it exactly like the recipe, no substitutions. I will get new baking soda and try again. Fingers crossed
Thanks Renata! Let me know how it goes.
Sure enough, I bought new baking soda, and now it turned out perfect!
Hi there. I made the recipe just like you said, but my cake completely deflated in the end.
It’s almost down to the pan, in the middle.
It’s delicious, but I obviously did something wrong.
Could you help? What did I do?
Hi Renata, I am sorry you had trouble with this. A couple of things to check are the temperature of your oven, how long you have had your leavening for, how long you mixed the batter. Also did you do the recipe completely as written or make any substitutions. Happy to help.
Did it exactly as on the recipe. No substitutions. I checked that my oven was the right temperature. Will check the date on my baking soda , and maybe try again.
Jocelyn,so glad I found you.I qill be making this with butter milk.Thanks for this recipe,looks so good.
I’m so glad you found me too!
I have fun with, lead to I discovered just what
I was having a look for. You’ve ended my four day long hunt!
God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
How awesome!
Oh gosh. I can only imagine how insanely delicious this is. I live for cornbread and pound cakes are one of my absolute favorite desserts. I have got to try this out soon!
So glad I discovered your blog!
I think you would love it Graham!!!! I am so glad you discovered me too!!! I hope you come back and check out my new recipes!!
looks delish
Thanks so much!!
This sounds divine! 🙂 It would be a wonderful replacement rolls at dinner time! 🙂
Yes, I didn’t think about that but that would be an awesome idea.
It’s my first time seeing pound cake which includes cornmeal! I already know that I’d love the grainer texture. The pound cake looks moist and yummy!
Yes there is a bit of a grainy texture but it really works! Thanks so much Nami!
I love food holidays! This pound cake looks so good, and how fitting for the whole Mardi Gras celebrations!
Yes, this actually was kinda perfect with Mardi Gras as well. Thanks so much girlie!