Promoted last August to the executive chef role at North of Bourbon, the renowned restaurant and whiskey bar in Louisville, Brittany Kelly lost little time adding her Kentucky roots to a menu already packed with Southern favorites. Longtime diners may have done double takes upon spotting cornbread’s appearance on the dessert list, but Kelly’s cornbread sundae—topped with ice cream, honey, and puffed sorghum berries—has since become a staple. (Here, we substitute popcorn for the puffed sorghum.)
“My grandfather ate cornbread with buttermilk poured over the top, and I usually finished mine with a scoop of ice cream. That memory is what inspired this sundae, turning a typically savory side into something sweet, nostalgic, and comforting,” Kelly says. “I love the novelty of using cornbread in a dessert because it challenges people’s initial expectations of a dish that’s familiar. Once guests take a bite, it sparks a conversation and sometimes brings out their own memories.”
Kelly tops the cane syrup–sweetened cornbread with North of Bourbon’s brown butter ice cream, but using store-bought butter pecan or vanilla is perfectly acceptable, she says. And yes, you can indulge in this rich dessert and still maintain a principled stance that non-dessert Southern cornbread shouldn’t be sweet.
