# Is cornbread bread or cake? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585 "2019-04-15T17:46:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/1 "2019-04-15T17:46:02Z")
Which is it? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/2 "2019-04-15T17:49:04Z")
Did you watch that It’s a Southern Thing video too? I think if you go over more than a tablespoon of sugar, it’s really closer to a cake than a bread. But if you don’t sugar or sugar minimally, it’s bread. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/3 "2019-04-15T17:51:16Z")
I suppose it’s technically bread, what with the word being in its name and all.😛 Just playing, I completely get why you ask. The way I make it and prefer it is more cake like in texture with a little bit of sweetness. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/4 "2019-04-15T17:52:16Z")
It’s a brioche. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/5 "2019-04-15T17:52:43Z")
I realize there can be considerable overlap between some of the poll options; I was just trying to be thorough. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/6 "2019-04-15T17:54:58Z")
Sugar in cornbread is awful. As bad as sweet tea. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/7 "2019-04-15T17:56:08Z")
It’s a short bread. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/8 "2019-04-15T17:56:54Z")
I serve it with savory foods, like smothered with creamy chicken soup. So I vote bread. Also, it’s baked in a cake pan and my family’s recipe has a ton of sugar. So I vote cake. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/9 "2019-04-15T18:29:12Z")
It’s made from batter, so it’s more like cake than bread. Contrast with an arepa, which is made with corn dough rather than a corn batter. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/10 "2019-04-15T18:38:15Z")
I put butter on it. I don’t put butter on cake. Therefore, it’s bread. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/11 "2019-04-15T18:40:43Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I don’t put butter on cake. Speak for yourself… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/12 "2019-04-15T18:43:11Z")
Depends on how it’s made. Lots of people load it up with white flour and sugar until it’s cake in all but name. The way I make it, almost entirely cornmeal and less sweet, it’s bread all right. Admittedly this is where the lines blur somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/13 "2019-04-15T18:46:22Z")
Yankees - cake People Who Know Cornbread - bread ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/14 "2019-04-15T19:11:41Z")
This was in one of Bill Maher’s “New Rules” books. “Cornbread isn’t bread – it’s cake!” I suspect it’s partly Maher’s sense of humor (plus needing another entry) and partly his chiding Americans for eating too much sugar – “you think you can get away with just saying “It’s bread”, but we all know it’s really Cake.” This is one of those places where no clear line of demarcation exists, with bread and cake merging together at the boundary. I maintain that it’s a short bread (as stated above), but sometimes it can be awfully sweet. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/15 "2019-04-15T19:33:43Z")
There is corn bread and then there are corn cakes, so there must a distinction somewhere, however vague. So, I voted that corn bread is bread. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/16 "2019-04-15T19:38:09Z")
If banana bread counts as bread, then corn bread is even more bread. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/17 "2019-04-15T19:45:28Z")
I’ve seen people butter up a piece of corn bread and put syrup or sugar on it. Makes a kind of dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/18 "2019-04-15T20:21:25Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If banana bread counts as bread, then corn bread is even more bread. Call it what you want but banana bread is definitely cake, not bread. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/19 "2019-04-15T20:55:01Z")
If it’s even at all ambiguous, then you’re using way too much sugar in your recipe. You don’t need any: Corn has enough natural sweetness on its own. > [@](#): > > Quoth **silenus** : > > Yankees - cake > People Who Know Cornbread - bread Hey, not all of us Yankees are corn-sugarers. But yes, in this, like in every other culinary matter other than tea, the South has it right. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/20 "2019-04-15T21:07:11Z")
I prefer my cornbread to be on the cake-y side. [Johnnycake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnycake), however, is definitely bread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585.md?page=2)