# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/21 "2019-04-15T21:16:43Z")
There’s two ways you can go with the word “bread”. One is the exclusive definition, a yeast risen dough made from wheat flour or other gluten-containing grains and baked in a hot oven. Cornbread, flatbreads, quick breads, biscuits and most pastries don’t fit this definition. The inclusive definition basically just looks at the role a food plays in a meal. If it’s dry, made from some type of flour or grain, gluten free or otherwise, and eaten as a side, a vessel for delivering butter or jelly, or used to pick up foods or sop up sauces, it’s bread, whether that’s a tortilla, injera or a pancake. Cake uses chemical leaveners and/or eggs for structure and lift, rather than gluten and yeast. So by that definition cornbread is cake. I’d say the same for all the banana or zucchini “bread” I’ve ever had. Cornbread usually isn’t very sweet, or eaten for dessert though, which are large components of what most people think of as “cake”. I voted “both” but I also heavily considered “either”. It’s on the edge of not very precise definitions, and depending on the person or the application, it could go either way, or it could fall into both categories. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2019, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/22 "2019-04-15T21:29:27Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Sugar in cornbread is awful. As bad as sweet tea. Yep. Both disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/23 "2019-04-16T00:01:02Z")
It is a quickbread. I love best the not so sweet varieties, with a high proportion of cornmeal. Cornbread can be made soft and more cakelike but I do not think that is the best way to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/24 "2019-04-16T05:08:24Z")
It’s neither bread nor cake; it’s cornbread. Just because it has ‘bread’ in the name doesn’t mean anything…just like ‘toad in a hole’ doesn’t have any toads in it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/25 "2019-04-16T07:08:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If banana bread counts as bread, _Narrator: It did not._ Cornbread’s cake. One ground rule: if you can put the same mix in a muffin case and it [passes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornbread#/media/File:Dunkin-Donuts-Corn-Muffin.jpg) as a muffin, then it’s cake. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/26 "2019-04-16T07:49:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yankees - cake > People Who Know Cornbread - bread I would amend this to say: **Brits and Yanks:** It’s cake. **Southerners:** “Well bless your heart! It’s right there in the name!” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/27 "2019-04-16T08:22:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Narrator: It did not._ > > Cornbread’s cake. One ground rule: if you can put the same mix in a muffin case and it [passes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornbread#/media/File:Dunkin-Donuts-Corn-Muffin.jpg) as a muffin, then it’s cake. How I know that you use to much sugar in your muffins… Can I rant here about the “muffins” that are just unfrosted cup cakes? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/28 "2019-04-16T12:26:14Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Can I rant here about the “muffins” that are just unfrosted cup cakes? And can I holler that chili isn’t soup? ---
**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 16, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/29 "2019-04-16T13:04:13Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > There’s two ways you can go with the word “bread”. One is the exclusive definition, a yeast risen dough made from wheat flour or other gluten-containing grains and baked in a hot oven. Cornbread, flatbreads, quick breads, biscuits and most pastries don’t fit this definition. The inclusive definition basically just looks at the role a food plays in a meal. If it’s dry, made from some type of flour or grain, gluten free or otherwise, and eaten as a side, a vessel for delivering butter or jelly, or used to pick up foods or sop up sauces, it’s bread, whether that’s a tortilla, injera or a pancake. Your first definition is too restrictive and your second definition is probably too loose. > [@](#): > > Cake uses chemical leaveners and/or eggs for structure and lift, rather than gluten and yeast. So by that definition cornbread is cake. I’d say the same for all the banana or zucchini “bread” I’ve ever had. Cornbread usually isn’t very sweet, or eaten for dessert though, which are large components of what most people think of as “cake”. Irish soda bread uses the chemical leavening, and (at least in its original Irish form) is definitely bread. Challah is full of eggs, but it’s definitely bread (perhaps with a similarity to brioche, but it still functions as bread). ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/30 "2019-04-17T04:35:13Z")
It’s cake, because it’s made from batter. And tomatoes are fruits, because they have seeds. If your cornbread has seeds, it’s fruitcake. If a batter hits a tomato, it’s ketchup. There is no such thing as catsup. ---
**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 17, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/31 "2019-04-17T04:49:49Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > There is no such thing as catsup. Sure there is; it’s just a furry _wassup_. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/32 "2019-04-17T05:31:14Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Sugar in cornbread is awful. As bad as sweet tea. This, a thousand times. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/33 "2019-04-17T08:18:25Z")
I would have said bread until I encountered a store bought brand that puts both sugar\* **and vanilla** in it. It was also rather moist. It was thus just a cake. So it depends on how you make it. \*I can take a little sugar, just not too much. Homemade bread is often sweetened. But vanilla?!? ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/34 "2019-04-17T10:01:45Z")
It’s a quick bread. You don’t need to have cornbread be sweet to be palatable. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/35 "2019-04-17T11:13:35Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Sugar in cornbread is awful. As bad as sweet tea. You are _so_ right. Sweet cornbread is an abomination. It’s supposed to be crumbly and a little bit salty. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/36 "2019-04-17T11:17:04Z")
“Don’t call me cookie and I won’t call you cake.” ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/37 "2019-04-17T11:46:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Your first definition is too restrictive and your second definition is probably too loose. > Irish soda bread uses the chemical leavening, and (at least in its original Irish form) is definitely bread. Challah is full of eggs, but it’s definitely bread (perhaps with a similarity to brioche, but it still functions as bread). There ought to be a fourth category for things like cornbread and Irish soda bread - or maybe “Viennoiserie” (which covers brioche, croissants and I think challah ) should be expanded to include items that use chemical leavening. ---
**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 17, 2019, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/38 "2019-04-17T11:48:55Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > It’s cake, because it’s made from batter. And tomatoes are fruits, because they have seeds. If your cornbread has seeds, it’s fruitcake. If a batter hits a tomato, it’s ketchup. There is no such thing as catsup. Bravo! 😛 ---
**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 17, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/39 "2019-04-17T13:38:18Z")
I could be persuaded that sweetbreads (like banana bread or zucchini bread) shouldn’t be called “bread”, but I wouldn’t call them “cake”, either, mostly on the grounds that you don’t spread butter on cake. I’d be more inclined to put sweetbreads in their own category. **kayaker** , I’d agree that chili isn’t soup, because it’s stew. Though admittedly the line between soup and stew can be a bit blurry. To simplify, though, if you can eat it on a plate and/or with a fork, it’s stew, not soup. ---
**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 17, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585/40 "2019-04-17T13:42:52Z")
TIL bacon is cake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-cornbread-bread-or-cake/832585.md?page=3)