Cornbread Cake with Whipped Honey Buttercream Frosting

This cornbread cake is the new Thanksgiving cake of your dreams. It has all of the savory, delicious flavors of cornbread (corn, honey, and butter, of course), yet is lighter, moist, and perfectly sweet like yellow cake. The whipped honey buttercream is quite literally the “icing on the cake.”

The idea for this cake came after seeing how much you all enjoyed (and still are enjoying) my cornbread cookies. I started with a family favorite recipe for a sweet cornbread and adjusted ingredients to make sure it would be clear that this was a cake. After a few rounds of recipe testing I ended up with a moist, tender, cornbread-like cake.

This cornbread cake is such a fun, delicious take on a classic side dish. It’s incredibly tender, moist, slightly-savory, and perfectly sweet. It’s so easy to make and will quickly become a new favorite for fall gatherings, potlucks, friendsgivings, and holiday meals.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Incredibly delicious blend of cornbread + yellow cake
• Moist, tender, sweet, and slighty-savory
• Tastes like a delicious piece of cornbread topped with butter and honey
• So, so simple to make
• Perfect for fall gatherings, potlucks, and holiday meals

Ingredients

AP flour: All purpose flour is mixed with the cornmeal to help give a soft, spongy cake-like texture. Make sure to measure your flour correctly (by spooning and leveling with a butter knife) to ensure a moist, light cake.

Cornmeal: Yellow cornmeal gives this cake a slight savory corn flavor and a bit of cornbread texture, as well as beautiful golden yellow color.

Baking powder: Baking powder acts as a leavening agent, helping this cake to rise during baking. Tip: periodically make sure your baking powder is fresh and not expired!

Salt: Added to the cake batter and the frosting, salt gives this sweet cornbread cake a touch of savory and complements the intense sweetness of the honey in the frosting.

Sugar: Granulated sugar helps to tenderize and moisten the cake, as well as provide structure.

Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil also tenderizes and moistens, better than butter would in a cake (since butter contains water that evaporates in baking, where cooking oil does not).

Eggs: Three eggs for richness, moisture, and structure. If you have access to farm-fresh eggs, the color of your cake will likely be more of an intense golden yellow.

Vanilla: Vanilla extract in the cake batter and in the frosting provides sweetness and warmth.

Butter: Butter is a must in a buttercream and it goes SO well with this cornbread cake.

Honey: Honey is the star of the frosting show here. It provides natural sweetness, a slight bit of a buttery yellow color, and makes this cornbread cake complete.

Powdered sugar: Powdered sugar is in the frosting and helps thicken it up.

Milk: Milk helps thin out the frosting to the desired, spreadable consistency. You can also use heavy cream for a slightly richer taste.

Equipment

• Mixing bowls
• Silicone spatula
• 9″x13″ aluminum cake pan
• Handheld mixer
• Offset spatula (for spreading frosting)

How to Make Cornbread Cake and Honey Buttercream Frosting

1. Whisk the dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350˚F and grease a 9″x13″ aluminum pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add the wet ingredients. To the dry ingredients, add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix with a spatula until incorporated.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes. Pour into the prepared pan and let bake until the edges are golden and the top springs back when pressed on lightly. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
4. Make the frosting. Mix the butter and honey together until smooth with a handheld mixer, then add the powdered sugar on low for a minute, then on high for another minute to whip it. Add the milk, vanilla, and salt to thin out the frosting.
5. Frost and serve. Spread the frosting on evenly, then cut into large pieces (15) or small pieces (24).

Notes & Tips

Tips for Success

1. Weigh your flour. Flour can so easily be over-measured by simply scooping a measuring cup into a bag of flour. This can lead to a dry, dense cake. The best way to prevent this from happening is to weigh out the flour straight into the mixing bowl on a kitchen scale.
2. Don’t overmix the cake batter. Mixing the cake batter too much can cause it to be overworked and result in a tough consistency. Make sure to be gentle and only mix as much as is needed to incorporate all the ingredients.
3. Use local honey in the frosting. There is a big difference between the taste and quality of store-bought honey and raw, local honey. I always use local from my in-laws’ own apiary, Reeder Bees!
4. Use a sturdy, aluminum cake pan. Glass pans are nice because you can see what’s happnening in the pan, but glass does not conduct heat, unlike metal. A quality aluminum pan will yield a better, more evenly baked cake. My favorite pans are Nordic Ware.
5. Don’t overbake the cake. After multiple rounds of testing this cake, I found that it was done after exactly 45 minutes. Make sure to pull it out as soon as it’s ready to prevent overbaking and a dry cake. The best way to test a cake for doneness is to press lightly on the top in the center. If it feels light, yet firm, and bounces back, it is done. If it sinks or feels gooey, let it bake a few minutes longer.

What to Serve with Cornbread Cake

This cornbread cake is perfect during summer for Fourth of July celebrations, grill-outs, and barbecues. It’s also great for the holiday season, around Thanksgiving time. It would be so fun to bring this to a friendsgiving party!

Main dishes that go well with this cake are chili, beef stew, roasted turkey (basically Thanksgiving dinner), pulled pork sandwiches, grilled cheeseburgers, or fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

Storage

This cornbread cake can be stored covered with an airtight lid for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. When ready to re-serve, set it out at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This cake can also be frozen in individual pieces and thawed at room temperature for a couple hours.

Other Recipes You Might Like…

• The inspiration for this recipe, my Honey Butter Cornbread Cookies
• Another fun dessert to enjoy during fall: Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
• A cozy dessert perfect for sharing–Soft Chai Cookie Bars

Print Recipe

Cornbread Cake with Whipped Honey Buttercream Frosting

This cornbread cake is a fun, sweet take on classic southern cornbread. It's incredibly tender, moist, slightly-savory, and perfectly sweet. It tastes just like a buttered piece of cornbread drizzled with honey in irresistible cake form.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cornbread cake, cornbread cake with honey buttercream frosting, honey buttercream

Servings: 24 pieces

Author: Kate Reeder

Ingredients

Cornbread Cake

• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (270 grams or spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal (160 grams)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cup milk

Whipped Honey Buttercream Frosting

• ½ cup salted butter room temperature
• ¼ cup honey
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp milk or heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350˚F and grease a 9"x13" aluminum cake pan with cooking oil.
• In a large bowl, add the flour (measured correctly), cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar and whisk until evenly combined.
• Add the oil, beaten eggs, vanilla, and milk. Gently stir with a silicone spatula until smooth and fully incorporated.
• Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top and edges are slightly bronwed and the center is tall and feels firm/bounces back (does not sink in when lightly pressed on).
• Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

• In a medium to large bowl, mix the room temperature butter and honey with a handheld mixer on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
• Add the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined, then whip on high for 1 minute.
• Add the milk, vanilla, and salt, and mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.
• Spread the frosting evenly on the cooled cake and cut into 12 large pieces or 24 small pieces.

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