Cornflower Cake

This beautiful cornflower cake is buttery, tender, and moist, with a subtle floral taste and beautiful blue swirls. The loaf is topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting that is quite literally the icing on the cake!

If you’re looking for more floral bakes, bake my lavender lemon cake, fluffy elderflower cake, and rose poke cake.

Can you bake with cornflowers?

Yes, cornflowers are edible and make a fun addition to baked goods like cakes and cookies. I even use cornflowers to create lemonade and jelly.

My recipe uses dried cornflower petals because they are easy to find and available year-round. They have a lovely, fragrant aroma with a honey-like, slightly spicy note.

The cake is delicious and buttery, with a faint floral taste that is much lighter than other edible flowers like roses or lavender.

To reflect the beautiful blue color of cornflowers, I tinted some of the batter with blue spirulina to create a gorgeous swirl design in the cake.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour – For accurate results, weigh your flour with a digital kitchen scale. Alternatively, fluff up the flour in the bag, spoon it into your measuring cup until overflowing, then use a butter knife to level the excess off.
• 1 cup granulated sugar – adds sweetness to the cake.
• 1/2 cup dried cornflower petals – create the subtle floral taste. You can order them online or find them in specialty tea stores.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder – gives the cake a lift.
• 1/2 cup salted butter – Melt your butter in a medium mixing bowl in the microwave until just melted, then set aside to cool slightly. I always cover my bowl with plastic wrap to avoid butter splatters.
• 2 large eggs – Select large eggs and let them come to room temperature.
• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil – keeps the cake super moist and bouncy.
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract is the way to go here. Imitation vanilla essence just doesn’t taste as good.
• 1 tablespoon blue spirulina powder – To create the white and blue marble pattern, we tint half of the batter with blue spirulina powder. It doesn’t alter the taste and is a natural food colorant. Of course, you could also use blue gel food color if that’s what you have.
• 2 tablespoons water – to dissolve the spirulina powder.

Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese – You need a full-fat block of cream cheese for this recipe. Let it soften to room temperature.
• 1/2 cup salted butter – Let the butter soften as well. If you only have unsalted butter, add a sprinkle of salt.
• 1 cup powdered sugar – adds sweetness. Sift the powdered sugar to remove lumps for a smooth frosting.
• 1/4 teaspoon blue spirulina powder – lends the frosting a soft blue color. Blue gel food coloring will also work.
• 2 tablespoons dried cornflower petals – Sprinkle them on as a decoration. You can also decorate your cake with fresh cornflowers if they are in season.

Instructions

Storage

• Store: The cake will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. For the best taste, take it out half an hour before serving.
• Freeze: You can freeze your cornflower cake without the frosting for up to 3 months. Wrap the cooled cake in 2 layers of plastic wrap and then a layer of tin foil. When ready to eat, thaw the loaf in the refrigerator overnight.

More cake recipes

• Lemon Zucchini Cake
• Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Condensed Milk Cake
• Strawberry Lemonade Pound Cake
• Nectarine Cake
• Buttermilk Coffee Cake
• Bisquick Coffee Cake