Light, tender cornmeal cake is made with flavorful browned butter and studded with juicy fresh strawberries. Top this rustic cake with plenty of whipped cream and extra strawberries for ultimate summer flavors!
Did someone ask for a cake literally EXPLODING with all the summer eats??
Yes? No? Well, either way I brought a brimming-with-summer cornmeal cake today so we might as well dig in.
Isn’t life so strange right now? Like it’s unofficially summer since we’re past Memorial Day weekend now, but yet with everything happening in the world, it doesn’t feel like it should be summer already.
Even when the weather is super freaking nice out and certainly FEELS like summer outside…..life is trippy right now, y’all.
You know what’s not confusing? Cake. Cake always makes sense and forms some standard of normal. We could all stand to take some life lessons from cake.
I couldn’t think of a better way to start than with this browned butter strawberry cornmeal cake. It’s literally covered in whipped cream + strawberries which in my mind, screams SUMMER forever and always.
I promise, this cornmeal cake is SO much easier than it looks/sounds! Let’s get baking! >>
First off, we’re not fussing around with multiple layers here today. This cake is single-layer which is how I like to roll if we’re baking in the summer. It’s too nice out to spend all day inside stacking and frosting cake layers!
Shall we discuss cake batter? Honestly, it’s pretty standard as far as cakes go. The only slight differences is using browned butter, rather than creaming butter, and both flour and yellow cornmeal.
I LOVE baking with cornmeal because it adds such a complex rusticness and lovely hearty flavors to baked goods. In this cake, it delivers an unmistakable flavor, but at the same time it doesn’t take away the light, moist texture we want present. Browned butter, Greek yogurt, eggs, and buttermilk help keep this cake moist and light.
We’re using strawberries in both the batter AND for topping this cake beauty. Honestly, the more berries the merrier in summer cause they are at their prime this time of year!
We’re decking out this cake very simply to keep it at low-key, rustic, eat-outside-around-the-campfire vibes. Whipped cream, macerated strawberries, and a shake of powdered sugar.
NO fancy decorating here today, and honestly it really doesn’t need it! The gorgeous summer flavors speak for themselves all throughout this cake.
We’re talking ULTRA-moist cake textures. A distinguishable flavor boost from the browned butter + cornmeal. And alllll the juicy fresh strawberry goodness.
Sooooo in case all the weirdness in the world right now made you forget……it’s summer and you should be baking this cake!!
Need more summer inspo? Try these lovely summer treats next!
Browned Butter Strawberry Cornmeal Cake
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter, melted over medium heat until a deep golden brown and cooled slightly
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/2-in cubes
Strawberry Topping
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Powdered sugar and whipped cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-in cake pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk browned butter, sugar, yogurt, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla until smooth. In a separate small bowl, whisk 1 cup flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- Gradually fold flour mixture into liquid until batter is just combined. In now-empty flour bowl, toss strawberries with remaining 2 tablespoons flour until evenly coated. Gently fold strawberries into batter.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake cake at 350F 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake completely on a wire cooling rack.
Strawberry Topping
- In a small bowl, combine strawberries and sugar. Let stand 10 minutes until strawberries release their juices.
- Once cooled, top cake with whipped cream if desired and strawberry topping. Dust with powdered sugar and slice into wedges. Enjoy!
Melissa says
Does it matter what kind of cornmeal I use (fine or more coarse)?
Sarah says
I recommend a finer cornmeal for this recipe. 🙂
Melissa says
Ok, thank you so much. Can’t wait to try this.