Ingredient: sour cream

Blackberry Cornbread

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

This sweet Blackberry Cornbread is super easy to make. It makes a delicious breakfast, brunch or side dish. It’s so good served with Blackberry Honey Butter. I love baking my cornbread in a cast iron skillet. It gives the cornbread a crisp, rustic crust. You can also use a cake pan if you prefer. (The baking time may vary.) Make sure not to over bake your cornbread since overtaking will dry it out. Use fresh, ripe blackberries when they’re in season. You can also use frozen blackberries or fresh or frozen blueberries. Skip the macerating step if you’re using blueberries or frozen berries.

Blackberry Cornbread

Sweet cornbread studded with ripe blackberries
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cups (158g) AP flour, sifted (plus one tsp for the blackberriesAP flour, sifted (plus one tsp for the blackberries)
  • ⅔ cup (132g) sugar
  • ¼ cup (35g) cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup (170g) sour cream
  • ¼ cup (57ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 ¼ cups (6 oz or 170g) ripe blackberries, divided (Cut large berries in half)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease an 8” cast iron skillet* or an 8” round cake pan.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil and melted butter until smooth. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until combined. A few lumps are okay. In a small bowl, gently toss one 1 cup (136g) of the blackberries with 1 tsp of flour. Gently fold the berries into the batter.
  • Transfer the batter to the skillet. Top with the remaining blackberries. Bake until the top is golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-43 min. Let cool in the pan 10 min. Serve with Blackberry Honey Butter** or honey if desired

Notes

*To find an 8-inch cast iron skillet, click here.  
**To find the Blackberry Honey Butter Recipe, click here.
 
Keyword blackberry, cornbread

Pink Lemonade Cake

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

This cheerful little loaf cake feels like a spring or summer picnic with lemonade and sunshine. It’s similar to a pink lemonade cake that my elderly neighbor used to make when I was growing up. She made it for all the neighborhood kids and we always gobbled it up. When I was about ten years old she taught my friend and me how to make it. She used a yellow cake mix in a large baking pan and poked holes all over the cake, then drenched it in a pink, sugary lemon icing. I transformed that happy pink lemonade memory into a delightful loaf cake made from scratch.

To watch the TikTok video, click here.

Pink Lemonade Cake

A tender, moist loaf cake that tastes just like pink lemonade
Print Recipe
Course Brunch, Dessert
Servings 1 8 x 4-inch loaf

Ingredients
  

Pink Lemonade Cake

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 oz or 142g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ cup (2 oz or 59ml) whole milk
  • ¼ cup (2 oz or 59ml) sour cream
  • 1 cup (7 oz or 200g) sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 ½ teaspoons strawberry extract
  • 1-2 drops pink gel food color I used Americolor deep pink*

Lemon Syrup

  • juice of one lemon
  • ¼ cup (1 3/4 oz or 50g) sugar

Icing

  • 2 tablespoons (1 oz or 28g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (4 oz or 113g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2-2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon strawberry extract
  • pinch fine sea salt
  • 1 tiny drop pink gel food color I used Americolor deep pink*

Instructions
 

Pink Lemonade Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325ºF (163ºC). Line the bottom of an 8 X 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream.
  • In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, lemon zest and strawberry extract until smooth.
  • Stir in the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk mixture. Stir just until combined. Stir in food color a little at time until your desired shade is achieved.
  • Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare lemon syrup.
  • Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Poke holes all over the top of cake with a skewer.
  • Brush the warm cake generously with the lemon syrup. Let the cake cool completely, then top with icing.

Lemon Syrup

  • In a small saucepan, combine the juice of one lemon with enough water to equal 1/4 cup. Add sugar and stir over medium-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Icing

  • In a medium bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, the strawberry extract and a pinch of salt, until smooth. Add more lemon juice until your desired consistency is reached. Mix in gel food color.

Notes

*To find the gel food color I used, click here.
Keyword cake, pink lemonade

Blueberry Skillet Cornbread

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

This is a sweet, fluffy blueberry cornbread that my family loves. It’s heavenly served with honey and butter. I love baking it in a cast iron skillet because of the delicious crust that forms from the steady high heat conducted with cast iron. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can use an 8-inch round cake pan instead. To find the 8-inch cast iron skillet I used, click here.

The texture of this cornbread is more like a quick bread than a cake and my family has always called it cornbread. When I posted this recipe previously, I called it a skillet cornmeal cake because I was trying to shy away from the cornbread police who inevitably show up when I post sweet cornbread recipes. These enforcers of non existent cornbread laws no longer intimidate me because I’ve done my cornbread research. There are different regions who make cornbread in many different ways. Various groups of people in the United States argue over whether or not cornbread should contain sugar. Historically, some people had to add sugar to cornbread because of the lower quality cornmeal they had access to. But the first cornbread was made long before that in ancient Mexico. People then and now use the ingredients available to them to create food that tastes good to them. So by any name, it’s all good.

 

Blueberry Skillet Cornbread

by Mari Vasseur
Sweet cornbread with blueberries baked in a cast iron skillet.
Print Recipe
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¼ cups (about 177-198g) blueberries, divided
  • 1 ¼ cups (159g) all purpose flour, sifted, plus one teaspoon for the blueberries
  • ⅔ cup (132g) sugar
  • ¼ cup (35g) cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup (170g) sour cream
  • ¼ cup (1 7/8 oz or 55ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Grease an 8-inch cast iron skillet.*
  • Set aside 1/4 cup of blueberries. In a small bowl, toss the remaining 1 cup of blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until well blended.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil and melted butter until creamy and well combined. Add the egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until combined. A few small lumps are okay. Gently mix one cup of blueberries into the batter.
  • Transfer the batter to prepared skillet. Top with the reserved 1/4 cup of blueberries.
  • Bake until top looks golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Notes

*To find the skillet I used, click here.
If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can use and 8-inch round cake pan.
Keyword blueberry, cornbread