I’d like to start this recipe with a great story about how my great grandmother hand ground dried corn into cornmeal for a secret family recipe, but this is what happened… I had just finished making some Cornmeal Pancakes and I had a half a cup of cornmeal left over. I looked over at my fresh produce and saw a couple of lemons left over from my Garlic Paste recipe. So what did I do? I looked online for lemon cornmeal recipes.
A few hundred pins and a fair bit of googling turned up a delicious sounding cake recipe I thought looked great! With some fresh blackberries thrown in, we were less than an hour away from a delicious brunch dish.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; coat with cornmeal. 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. 
Gently fold liquids into flour mixture until just blended (do not stir). Press the blackberries gently into the cake. Spread evenly in pan.
Bake cake about 30 minutes, until it springs back when gently touched.
Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla extract in a small bowl.
Stir with spoon until smooth and paste-like, adding more lemon juice by ½ teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to pour.
Ingredients
- 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
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted, cooled
- 1/2 pint blackberries , washed and gently dried
Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups (packed) powdered sugar , sifted
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or more, to taste)
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; coat with cornmeal.
- 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.
- Gently fold liquids into flour mixture until just blended (do not stir).
- Spread evenly in pan.
- Bake cake about 30 minutes, until it springs back when gently touched.
- Let cool.
For Glaze:
- Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla extract in a small bowl.
- Stir with spoon until smooth and paste-like, adding more lemon juice by ½ teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to spread.
- Pour over the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
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Am I blind or did you forget about adding the blackberries? Not too hard to figure out I guess. I just made a design on the top right before putting it in the oven to bake.
I haven’t tasted it just yet but can already tell it’s going to be delicious.
I also didn’t have buttermilk, so I used whole milk plus a splash of apple cider vinegar. Hope that part works out. For some reason my substitutions don’t work out much more often than they do, which is why I try really hard to avoid doing substitutions for any baking. But a licked the spoon, raw egg and all, and it was tasty. I’m sure it will be fine this time.
Hi, I want to make this and was wondering do I use medium ground cornmeal or fine ground cornmeal?
I used fine ground cornmeal for this recipe. 🙂
Oh Sabrina, this looks beautiful and delicious… I pinned it to one of my group boards…
This looks and sounds like a really good dish to eat up! I will bookmark it to save for later making. Appreciate you sharing it!
Thanks, I hope you love it!
I hope you get to try it and love it!
That looks really good. I’m not sure if I can find blackberries here, but I’m definitely going to try it with other berries. Thanks for the recipe.
I don’t like blackberries but this looks really yummy. I just got back into baking so I may need to try this recipe out for size.
Well that lemon glaze looks tasty right through the screen. I d love berries and lemon together. I would try it with the cornmeal cake recipe too.
Thanks! I am a total sucker for glazes more than frostings. I just love how they are sticky and sweet without being so thick
This looks so yummy! I tried a cornmeal cake for the first time a few weeks ago and I liked it so much more than I thought it would.
That looks so yummy. I haven’t made a cornmeal cake before. Sounds interesting.
I love cornmeal cakes, and this is such a perfect combination with blackberries!!
This looks really yummy. Blackberries and lemon sounds like a great combo.
What a gorgeous cake! The glaze is so luscious. Pinned!
Thank you!
I just made cornbread for my Hubs yesterday. He would have liked this so much better though. I am going to surprise him next week and make it for him. Thanks for the recipe!
Wonderful, I hope you love it!
This looks delicious, Sabrina!
Thanks Molly!
Looks fabulous! The cornmeal sends it over the top. A must try.
I don’t think I would have ever thought to use lemon in cornmeal, but that looks and sounds divine! Can’t wait to try it!
I LOVE LOVE blackberries and lemons. I have never tried them in a cornmeal cake before, so, I will have to try this soon.
I bet the lemon glaze is perfect with the berries! I’ll have to try this out!
This looks so so good! I love blackberries!
Is it as good as it promises? Oh my, need to try it ASAP 😀
Yes! It was polished off within hours by 3 people 🙂
It wouldn’t last very long in my house! I can’t wait to try this out!
This is such an interesting take on common ingredients. We love cornbreads, including sweeter ones, but have never tried adding lemon to it.
You’d be surprised how easy it is while tasting so completely different and delicious. That hint of cornmeal gives it a deliciously slightly chewy crumb. Damn, now I want some and I don’t have anymore, haha.
I agree! I have been looking for recipes such as this, I’m just glad I stumbled upon this one.
Just so everyone knows, this is really, really good!!
Haha glad you loved it! 🙂