We were doing a demo the other night, and another vendor asked if our mix would work as a cornbread. Every since our olive oil tour last week at the Oregon Olive Mill, I had been wanting to try making our white cake mix into an Italian cornmeal cake, so this was just the impetus I needed. And wouldn’t you know, it worked!
As delicious as this is for dessert, especially served up with some juicy summer fruit, I think it would also be delicious served as a sweet and savory cornbread too. Store the cake in the baking dish tightly covered with plastic wrap.
If you don’t like rosemary, you could omit it. I added just enough so that it was a very subtle background flavor. Don’t substitute dried rosemary, as I think it would be too potent. Lavender might actually be nice here too.
Let me know if you try it!
xo Julie
Julie’s Italian Cornmeal Cake
1 bag Julie’s Original White Cake Mix
1 cup fine cornmeal (I used and love Bob’s Red Mill brand)
2 cups non-dairy milk (I used plain soymilk)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used Oregon Olive Mill)
Fresh minced rosemary leaves, about 1 tablespoon or to taste (rosemary can be over-powering, so start with a smaller amount and taste. 1 tablespoon gave just enough flavor so that it was subtle)
Whisk everything together in a large bowl. Spread batter into a greased 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish. Bake in preheated 350°F oven until golden and a skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes.
