Cornbread Cake with Blueberry Balsamic Glaze-More Joy!
Continuing on my “All Things Joy” thread. Joy Cho, creator of Sour Cream Gem Cakes posted yet another winning snack cake (in Eater this time), a stunning Cornbread Cake with Blueberry Balsamic Glaze. I literally ran to my kitchen to try it. Like her Mochi Banana Bread, this is simple, easy to make, and delicious. Instead of sweet rice flour, cornmeal is added to all-purpose flour along with sour cream and butter to create a moist, tender, rich cake.
Think of it as a sweet, light, fine crumb version of cornbread with a killer glaze. The eye-catching blue-purple topping plays off the yellow cornmeal perfectly, it’s a showstopper. With plump, ripe blueberries at the farmer’s market now, this is a no-brainer recipe to try. In all honesty, I am already thinking of substituting mochi flour for some of the all-purpose flour to add that zingy texture to this cake too. Mochi madness persists.
The cake is simple to make. Combine the dry ingredients, in this case, all-purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients which include butter, sour cream, honey, and eggs. Alternate the dry ingredients and milk adding in two steps. The batter may look a little curdled but it’s fine. Pour into an 8×8 baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Shoot for a thermometer reading in the range of 195-200 or a clean toothpick stuck in the center for doneness.
True Grit
Stone ground cornmeal tends to be grittier than conventional supermarket cornmeal. Bob’s Red Mill leaves the germ and bran as well as some of the hull in their cornmeal. I’m not a fan of gritty cornbread so I used Bob’s Red Mill Corn Flour which resulted in a cake-like fine crumb texture. If you like a loose crumb and a little bit of grit cornbread, use the fine-grind stone ground cornmeal. If you are a glutton for grit, use the medium grind…but don’t come crying to me. Conventional supermarket cornmeal (like Albers) does not have the hull or germ so it will not be very gritty, perfect for my kinda cornbread.
Icing on the Cake
Make the glaze while the cake is cooling. Mash blueberries and let it sit and macerate for a couple of minutes and then add powdered sugar. The recipe calls for one cup of sugar, I used an extra 2 tablespoons to thicken it up. The color is delightful and plays off the cornmeal cake. I also added some crushed freeze-dried blueberries to amp up the flavor and color, totally optional. Trader Joe’s has an array of freeze-dried fruits including blueberries.
Yet another simple and delicious cake from Joy Cho. Its berry, berry good.
Cornbread Cake with Blueberry-Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¾ cup (105 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal (55 grams) if using stone ground corn like Bob's Red MIll, use corn flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk at room temperature
- ⅓ cup (80 grams) full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
For the glaze:
- ¼ cup fresh blueberries
- ¼ teaspoon balsamic vinegar or substitute vanilla
- 1 cup (120 grams)powdered sugar, spooned into the measuring cup, and leveled off, plus more as needed I needed an additional 2 tablespoons of sugar
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-by-8-inch square cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving a two-inch overhang on the sides (to make it easier to remove the cake after baking), and grease the parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add the sugar and honey and cream the mixture until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat just until combined. Carefully beat in the milk and sour cream, then beat in the rest of the dry ingredients just until the batter is smooth.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edges to loosen. Using the parchment sling to assist, transfer the cake to a cooling rack.
- Make the glaze: Thoroughly mash the blueberries in a medium bowl with the back of a large spoon. Let the berries macerate for a minute or two. Add balsamic vinegar, powdered sugar, and a few pinches of salt to the bowl and whisk until smooth. The consistency of the glaze should be pourable but not overly runny — if needed, add more powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time.
- Set out a rimmed baking sheet. When the cake is completely cool, set the cooling rack (with the cake on it) over the parchment or baking sheet. Pour the glaze over the cake, spreading it to the edges and letting it run down the sides. Allow the glaze to set completely before slicing and serving.