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The Most Adaptable One-Bowl Cornmeal Poundcake
![The Most Adaptable One-Bowl Cornmeal Poundcake](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/27/dining/mc-cornmeal-poundcake/mc-cornmeal-poundcake-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
- An orange, lime or lemon (optional)
- ½cup/120 milliliters liquid fat (olive oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, melted butter, whatever you’ve got)
- 2eggs
- ½cup/120 milliliters plain yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, or ½ cup whole milk mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- A dash of vanilla or almond extract, or use brandy (optional)
- ¼teaspoon grated nutmeg (optional)
- ¼teaspoon salt
- ¼teaspoon baking soda
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- ½cup/60 grams cornmeal
- 1¼cup/160 grams all-purpose flour
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees, and grease and flour a 9-inch loaf pan. (Or grease and line it with parchment.)
- Step 2
In a big bowl, add the sugar, and grate the zest from the orange, lemon or lime into the bowl. If you need a little aromatherapy, work the zest into the sugar with your fingers. (This technique is supposed to infuse the citrus into the sugar.)
- Step 3
Add the fat, eggs, and yogurt to the bowl, along with the extract and nutmeg, if you like.
- Step 4
Whisk in the salt, baking soda, baking powder and cornmeal. Once smooth, whisk in flour.
- Step 5
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until the top is golden brown at the edges and the center springs back when lightly pressed, 45 minutes to an hour. Let it (mostly) cool in the pan. Then slice off a thick piece, butter it and let yourself be soothed.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
we’ve always loved you, melissa clark, but during quarantine now more so than ever. i love these “anything works” recipes for so many reasons, but above all because you’re sneaking a little bit of fun and creativity into my day with these recipes. thank you for what you do!
This is excellent and so easy. I have made it 3 times already. Twice with lemon zest and once with orange zest (prefer the lemon). Twice with sour cream and once with buttermilk (prefer sour cream). Grated nutmeg each time, but not necessary. Used melted butter each time. Used splash of Amaretto instead of vanilla, because I had it in the cupboard.
This is delicious and so easy. I particularly appreciate that it does NOT start with "in the bowl of a stand mixer..." I used coconut oil and it gives a very subtle coconut flavour profile. If you run a wet knife through the middle before you put it in the oven it creates a nice 'crack" in the centre.
THIS IS NOT A JOKE! I'm trying to limit trips to the grocery store, so, I substituted vanilla yogurt for plain, GRITS for cornmeal, and, because I didn't have my glasses on, put in TURMERIC instead of nutmeg. I baked it for 35 minutes in a 10" skillet instead of a loaf pan. It still came out good, a testament to its adaptability!
So easy to assemble, so fragrant in the oven, so tasty! Only minor adjustments or adaptations: reduced sugar by 25% to 150 grams; used nonfat Greek yogurt; zest of one lemon plus juice of 1/2 lemon (probably could have used all, maybe next time); almond extract; no nutmeg. Baked just fine at 350 for 45 minutes. Highly recommended, five stars! Thank you Melissa Clark.
A tip for frozen blueberries: let them thaw a bit, rinse with cold water, pat dry, and toss in cornmeal or flour before adding to the batter. This will reduce the gooeyness!
This recipe is a hit and we’ve made it three times already. Our favorite was orange with Almond Extract from Penzey’s. Fortunately Penzey’s just started shipping again because I’m going to be making this a lot! We also tried lime and sour cream - three limes - but the lime was a little too subtle. The marriage of orange and almond extract though is amazing! For the flour - I used 3/4 cup wheat flour, 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup garbanzo flour - wheat flour is still scarce.
Made with orange, vanilla and aniseed. Also added chopped almonds. All done before 8am in one easy to clean bowl before my toddler up! Quarantine victory!
Divine. We felt almost like we stopped by one of our favorite bakeries for breakfast! Cut the sugar in half, but compensated a bit by using a healthy splash of limoncello in place of lemon zest and brandy. Used high quality yogurt and butter. Lovely with blue cornmeal and a cup of frozen blueberries tossed into the dry ingredients before mixing with wet (yes, I sacrificed an extra bowl). Excellent with coffee or tea. Requires imploring the husband to allow it to last for a third day.
I made this with sour cream, olive oil, and lemon zest. Ended up tasting like a heartier, more rustic version of Samantha Seneviratne's olive oil cake recipe, also on this site, which is exactly what I wanted! Delicious.
I was not wowed. Perhaps it’s because I cut the sugar by 20 percent, but I suspect that’s not the main issue. Instead I think it needs more salt—recipe says 1/4 teaspoon, which I upped to 1/2 teaspoon because I was using kosher salt, and still it was dull. I topped a slice with some flakes of Maldon sea salt and it really came alive. For the record I used orange zest for the zest, butter for the fat, buttermilk, and vanilla. Also—9-inch loaf pan way too big for this—next time I’ll use 8-inch.
Great recipe! When I make it again, though, I’ll reduce the sugar a bit. It was just a bit too sweet for me, but otherwise a lovely cake. And it’s delicious toasted!
Delicious and easy. I used orange zest, whole milk yogurt, olive oil and splashes of Cointreau and vanilla. Now I’m trying not to eat the whole thing in one sitting.
I tried to make this vegan with flax egg and vegan yogurt. Must report that I failed miserably :(
I’ve made this twice now. It is simply the most satisfying pound cake I’ve had. I used orange zest and almond extract. I didn’t have cornmeal so I used semolina. Very comforting.
Borrowing from Food 52’s Whole Orange Cake, I whirred up 1/2 an orange in place of the zest - fantastic!
I’ve now made this numerous times with different oils (no difference to me) and I usually put in lime and lemon zest plus some juice. When it’s done I poke some holes in the top and smear all sides and top with a thin icing I make with a tablespoon or two of melted butter, lemon juice, and confectioners sugar. I just love a slice of this topped with fruit and whipped cream or ice cream. My husband devours this cake when I make it.
Made many times with all sorts of combinations. favorite is olive oil, orange, greek yogurt. And be sure to get a good gritty cornmeal for texture - Bob's Red Mill Polenta works fantastically!
This breaks my heart. I thought it would be nirvana, but it's just jumped-up cornbread.
Loved the ease, but a bit too sweet for me. Reduce sugar, skip the zest.
All the comments are great. I made as written using orange zest, canola oil, vanilla and nutmeg plus whole milk yogurt. Very satisfying but the best part to me was the crunchy bottom and side crusts. I’m going to try some of the suggested variations next few times which will be often. Side note- my baking time was less than suggested by 5 minutes. 40 min was all it took.
This batter made great mini donuts in my Babycakes donut maker, so I'm sure it would make excellent dessert/brunch waffles too (I'm kind of obsessedwith waffles!). I used lemon rind and 1 tsp lemon extract. Very light and tasty!
I cut the sugar to 1/2 plus 2 T, added 2 T of Grand Marnier, used 3/4 C whole wheat and 1/2 C all purpose flour, polenta, lemon zest, and olive oil. Truly a keeper!
Wow!! My son and 7 year old granddaughter are visiting and my granddaughter and I made this. We used half butter and half blood orange flavored olive oil. We used 3/4 cup of sugar per the comments. We used the grated rind of one orange and one lemon. We used freshly grated nutmeg. My son is glucose intolerant so we used one-for-one GF flour. We baked it in a 10” cast iron skillet. I used vanilla extract because I am not a fan of almond. OMG this was fabulous. We ate half standing in the kitchen!
Pulled this one out of the archives tonight, made with what I had on hand. Lemon zest, greek yogurt, olive oil, almond extract and added a can of crushed pineapple, because why not. Delicious.
Made the recipe as written, except for 1 C white flour and 1/4 cup rye flour for a little extra je ne sais quoi. Very tasty and comforting!
Used avocado oil, half a lemon's zest, and vanilla yogurt. It was delicious. Next time I try orange zest and almond extract, and plain yogurt. This cake is a real find.
Wow! This cake is amazing and so easy. I used melted butter and 1/2 t lemon and 1/2 t orange extract. And made a brown butter glaze well just because…. I can’t believe how reminiscent and comparable this pound cake is to the ones my Grandmother made that took a lot of effort. I used corn flour instead of corn meal.
Added 1 cup of fresh blueberries, decreased flour and increased cornmeal, used butter and yogurt. Skipped the zest and spices. Delicious and versatile. Breakfast with coffee or dessert with more fresh berries and some fresh whipped cream. I’ll be making this again and again.
This was delicious and super easy. Thank you. I don't eat gluten, so subbed the all-purpose flour with a mix of g/f flours that I had on hand: 1/2 c buckwheat and 1/4 c each of cassava, oat, and almond. It turned out well!
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