Fragrant vanilla cake, buttery cornbread, and sweet honey have joined forces to bring you your new favorite dessert of the spring and summer; this Cornbread Cake with Honey Buttercream Frosting! Let me tell you, it’s the dessert equivalent of Sunday porch sittin’ on a warm, sunny afternoon. It’s more moist than your typical cornbread but a bit more crumbly than your run-of-the-mill cake—and don’t get me started on the airy, light honey buttercream! Mmm mmm! Y’all come, pull up a chair, and enjoy the season with me before the humidity and the skeeters come out in full force.
I seriously love this recipe because it takes the familiar flavor of cornbread and gives it a sweet dessert twist! You still get that cozy cornmeal flavor, but the texture is softer, sweeter, and more tender, thanks to a few simple swaps. It’s rich like cake but has that unmistakable crumbly cornbread charm. And guess what? Egg prices are still bonkers, so I took them out completely! I promise you won’t miss them because the texture of this cornbread vanilla cake hybrid is absolute perfection. Top it with my dreamy whipped honey buttercream, add a few sprinkles if you’re feeling festive, and you’ve got a dessert that’s as cheerful and summery as a backyard picnic. 😉
The apple sauce in this recipe cost me only $0.34 for ¾ cup. As a substitute in baking, this is the equivalent of 3 eggs, which would have cost me $1.23! If you don’t have applesauce on hand, you should go get some and consider using it in baking until the price of eggs goes down! However, if you have backyard chickens or have a carton of eggs you’ve been rationing for a special recipe, feel free to use 3 of them in place of the apple sauce.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Gather all of your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350℉.
Combine the dry ingredients: Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup stoneground yellow cornmeal, 1 Tbsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
Combine the wet ingredients: In a different mixing bowl, add ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted room temperature butter and 1 ½ cups granulated sugar. Use a hand mixer or a whisk to cream the butter and sugar together.
Add ¾ cup apple sauce, ½ cup heavy cream, and ½ Tbsp vanilla extract to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix on low (or use a whisk!) until combined.
Make the batter: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to create a thick batter. Be careful not to overmix at this point!
Bake: Grease a 9” cake pan (I used a 9” springform cake pan) and pour the batter in. I like to use a spoon or spatula to evenly distribute the batter in the cake pan. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. It’s ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The color of the cake will also deepen, and the middle won’t be jiggly anymore.
Make the honey buttercream frosting: While you wait for your cake to bake, you can make your frosting. Add ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted room temperature butter and 2 cups powdered sugar to a mixing bowl and mix to combine.
Now add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 Tbsp honey.
Whip with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy! Set this aside for now.
Frost the cake: Let your cake cool completely before removing the springform pan or attempting to flip it and frost it. This could take a while, depending on how hot your kitchen is, but the cake shouldn’t be warm at all before frosting if you want the honey buttercream to stay thick and creamy.
When your cake is cooled, flip it onto a cooling rack (so the flat side is facing up) to make frosting easier.
Spread the honey buttercream over the cooled cornbread cake, coating the top and sides.
Decorate and serve: This is optional, but you can decorate your cake in any way you like. I had some yellow sprinkles on hand (they reminded me of corn kernels!), so I sprinkled a few of them on top. Slice into 12 slices and serve!
If you’re making this cake for a special occasion, you can double the recipe and make a layer cake if you want to! It’s sturdy and would hold up well as a layer cake. But to keep costs low, I went with a single layer this time. This recipe also works in an 8×8 baking dish, but your cooking time will vary.
As this cornbread cake is made with a buttercream frosting, you can keep it covered and store it at room temperature for a few days (unless your kitchen is really hot and humid—then the fridge is your friend). For longer storage, refrigerate it (covered!) for about a week, though I’d recommend enjoying it within 3–4 days for the best texture, as the fridge can dry out your homemade cake. Want to freeze it? Chill it first to firm up the frosting, then wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Thaw at room temp and dig in!
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