Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

I was raised to believe that you were to drink your tea sweet, but no sugar should ever come into contact with your cornbread.  I took that at face value for a long time until somewhere along the way I had a piece of somebody's cornbread that was sweetened and fell in love.  If only my mama could see what I was doing with my cornmeal now.  She'd have me locked away.



I think it's worth the risk.  


I based this on a recipe I found at Epicurious, but didn't have any lemon so had to leave that out; and chose to put the blueberries in the cake rather than on it.  I'd say this is a pretty delicious snacking cake, and I'm sure it's something I'd like to have again sometime.


Here's the recipe:


Glaze:
1 1/2 cups (packed) powdered sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lemon Juice (or milk)

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel (if you've got it)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1 cup of blueberries, tossed in flour to coat 

For glaze:
Combine powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in small bowl. Stir with spoon until smooth and paste-like, adding more lemon juice by 1/2 teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to spread. Set aside.

For cake:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; line bottom with parchment. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl; whisk to blend. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, lemon peel, and vanilla in small bowl. Pour buttermilk mixture and melted butter into flour mixture. Using rubber spatula, gently fold liquids into flour mixture until just blended (do not stir). Then fold in blueberries.  Scrape batter into pan; spread evenly.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean and cake pulls away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes.

Immediately run knife around sides of cake. Place rack atop cake in pan. Using oven mitts, hold pan and rack firmly together and invert cake onto rack. Remove pan from cake. Place another rack on bottom of cake; invert 1 more time so that cake is top side up. Stir glaze until blended. While cake is still very hot, drop glaze by tablespoonfuls onto cake; spread to within 1/2 inch of edge (some glaze may drip down sides of cake). Cool completely
 

 


17 comments:

The JR said...

Looks good! I think this is a good case to use sugar in the cornmeal.

Bo said...

Same here...My dad made the sweet tea...it was like syrup...but I was so gealous of the kids next door because their mom made Jiffy cornbread and it was so sweet...this cake sounds great!

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

This looks delicious, Julie. (We won't tell your mom.)

fondly,
Glenda

Amy said...

This looks like one tasty cake!

scrambledhenfruit said...

I do love a little sugar in my cornbread. :) This looks yummy!

Anonymous said...

It looks so moist and delicious, wonderful with blueberries!

Ally's Sweet and Savory Eats said...

Yum! That glaze of icing makes it look even better!

The Blonde Duck said...

As a Texan, I approve. And drool

teresa said...

oh my gosh, i love this. i think cornmeal is so good in baked goods.

Kim said...

One of the things on my to-cook list is making a cornmeal based cake like this one. I love this version and I'm pretty sure I could make this cake disappear. (Quickly)

Katrina said...

I would totally take that over sugarless cornbread! ;)

theUngourmet said...

I really love cornmeal cakes and blueberries are just about my favorite berry. This looks like a terrific cake!

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Cornmeal cakes are good! Will have to try it with the blueberry and lemon - really sounds good.

Ah yes, the great southern cornbread debate. Now see, apparently I one of those southern born and bred rebels, because while I was born in the south, and have always lived in the south, I openly admit that I have ALWAYS put a little bit of sugar in my cornbread. A. Little. Bit. Not enough to make it a cake for pete's sake - just a couple of teaspoons, but Corn LOVES sugar and, well, cornmeal is corn. :)

I also prefer yellow over white which is another thing that gets other southerners panties all in a wad, but my mama made her cornbread this way, and she was as southern born & bred as I am. Besides, I am also totally convinced that many southerners have been shamefully sneaking a little bit of sugar in their cornmeal for years without telling anybody anyway - it just tastes much better that way!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Reeni said...

This looks insanely good! If I had blueberries I would make it right now!

megan said...

oooh...a cornmeal cake?? Oh my, what have I been missing out on? Sounds awesome!

Monica H said...

Sweet cornbread with salted butter is one of my weaknesses. And I'm a huge blueberry fan so this looks fantastic to me.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Yum, Julie! I love cakes made with cornmeal. It's the texture thing.
~ingrid