The Most Adaptable One-Bowl Cornmeal Poundcake

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

I tried to make this vegan with flax egg and vegan yogurt. Must report that I failed miserably :(

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.

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.