This honey-flavored cast iron cornbread cake is full of sweet strawberries and topped with just the right amount of powdered sugar drizzle. Whether you choose to serve it for breakfast alongside a banana or additional sliced strawberries, or for dessert alongside fresh whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, I guarantee that you’ll fall absolutely in love with this sweet cornbread after the very first bite.
Valentine’s Day is only a day away, and instead of spending my time wisely to figure out what to get B.O.B. Bob for the special day, I’m pondering over the love of two animals who are currently living under my back deck. Earlier this summer, to our great surprise, we discovered that we had a skunk living underneath our deck. Thankfully our shy and stinky little skunk isn’t easily taken by surprise and tends to turn and run the other way when confronted. Then, this week, I discovered that our friendly neighborhood opossum has also made his home underneath the deck as well. Can you imagine having two such interesting animals living in your yard at the same time?
So, for those of you who have come to know me well, you may not be too surprised that now I’m sitting here trying to decide if our skunk and opossum are friends, roommates, or possibly even lovers. I can’t help but wonder if they’ll be exchanging Valentine’s Day gifts tomorrow. Perhaps they’ll share a few leftover black walnuts stolen from the neighborhood squirrels, or maybe even a few bugs that have somehow managed to live throughout the cold winter weather. Or maybe, just maybe, our opossum won’t even mind just how stinky his little friend is, and he’ll go in for a big ol’ skunk on opossum smooch. And in return, our skunk might even find it in his heart to ignore how just how unattractive his friend the opossum actually is.
These are the things I think about. When I’m not thinking of this sweet strawberry-filled honey cornbread cake of course. You see, even though this cornbread cake practically made me faint with utter desire at the very first bite, it’s nothing compared to the thought of the possible animal love affair that could potentially be going on right this very minute underneath my very own back deck. Perhaps I should play a little romantic music for them to make things more interesting? What song do you think would most likely get a skunk and an opossum all hot and bothered? I’m not sure if Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” is right for such an occasion.
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 1/2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Cold
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 1/2 Cup Honey
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
- 1 Tablespoon Baking powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 (16-oz.) Container Fresh Strawberries, Rinsed, Destemmed, & Cut in Half Lengthwise
- 3 Teaspoons Demerara Sugar
Drizzle:
- 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
Directions:
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a cast iron or a coated cast iron skillet with cold unsalted butter; set aside.
- Place the melted butter, honey, cream, zest, lemon juice, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after the addition of each egg.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared skillet and then top with half of the strawberries. Repeat with the remaining half of the batter and the remaining half of the strawberries.
- Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
Drizzle:
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Drizzle the mixture over the warm cornbread cake.
Suggestions:
- Before you add the flour mixture to the batter it may look curdled. That’s perfectly normal.
- I suggest mixing the flour mixture into the batter on slow speed or by hand. Make sure to mix the batter just until all of the flour is incorporated.
- After I rinse, destem, and cut the strawberries in half, I allow them to rest on a few paper towels to absorb any excess moisture.
- Make sure to smooth the cake batter out evenly into the skillet with a silicone spatula so that the cake bakes evenly.
- Check on the cake often after it has baked for 20 minutes. The baking time will depend on your particular oven and the size of your skillet. My cake took approximately 23 minutes. The cake will be golden brown, darker around the edges but not burnt, and the top of the cake will spring back when you touch it.
- This cake is perfect for breakfast, dessert, or as a side to a piping hot bowl of comforting soup or chili.
Improvements:
- Add lemon zest or juice to the drizzle for an extra lemony flavor.
- Toss a 1/2 cup of miniature chocolate chips in with the flour mixture before you add it to the batter.
- Serve topped with fresh whipped cream.
- Make sure to try this Gluten-Free Sweet Cornbread Bundt Cake and this Jalapeño Cornbread Filled with Blueberry Quick Jam.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Cold
- 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 1/2 Cup Honey
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
- 2 Eggs
- 1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
- 1 Tablespoon Baking powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 (16-oz.) Container Fresh Strawberries, Rinsed, Destemmed, & Cut in Half Lengthwise
- 3 Teaspoons Demerara Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a cast iron or a coated cast iron skillet with cold unsalted butter; set aside.
- Place the melted butter, honey, cream, zest, lemon juice, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after the addition of each egg.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared skillet and then top with half of the strawberries. Repeat with the remaining half of the batter and the remaining half of the strawberries.
- Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Drizzle the mixture over the warm cornbread cake.
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