Elegant Southern Seafood Cake
Southern seafood cakes with crab, shrimp, scallops, and flounder in a cornbread crumb coating, pan-fried in clarified butter. Four kinds of seafood in one golden, crispy cake.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
30 minThese seafood cakes go well beyond a standard crab cake. Four kinds of seafood come together in one patty: lump crab, shrimp, scallops, and flounder. Each brings a different texture and flavor, from the sweet flakiness of crab to the firm bite of scallops, and the result is far more complex than any single-seafood cake.
Cornbread crumbs replace the usual breadcrumb coating, and that is a distinctly Southern touch. They crisp up golden in clarified butter and add a faint sweetness and gritty crunch that regular panko can’t match. You bake the cornbread first, then process it into fine crumbs.
The sautéed peppers and red onion mixed into the filling add color and a vegetal sweetness, while lime juice and a pinch of cayenne give everything a bright, warm finish. Stir gently once the crab goes in. You want chunks, not paste.
Pan-fry in clarified butter, which can handle high heat without burning, giving you a deeply golden crust in about two minutes per side.
Pro Tips
- Coarsely chop the shrimp, scallops, and flounder but leave the crab meat in larger pieces for texture.
- Refrigerate the formed patties for up to an hour before frying. Cold cakes hold together better in the hot pan.
- Fry only 3 cakes at a time. Crowding drops the pan temperature and you’ll steam instead of sear.
- Serve on a pool of warm corn sauce for the full Southern restaurant treatment.
Variations
- Lobster addition: Replace the flounder with chopped lobster tail for an even more luxurious version.
- Remoulade: Skip the corn sauce and serve with a classic Cajun remoulade for a New Orleans spin.
Ingredients
Directions
Well in advance, prepare cornbread according to package directions.
Cool and process in food processor or blender to make fine crumbs.
Set aside.
Finely chop the onion.
Remove seeds and veins from peppers and chop into approximately ½ inch pieces.
Peel, chop, and finely crush garlic.
Sauté onion in 10 inch frying pan in hot olive oil until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add peppers and garlic and continue cooking until peppers are almost tender.
Meanwhile, peel shrimp.
Coarsely chop shrimp, callops and flounder.
Remove onion/pepper mixture from heat and add seafood, mayonnaise and lime juice.
Stir gently to prevent breaking crab.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne.
Shape into patties and coat both sides with cornbread crumbs.
(May now be placed n a plate and refrigerated for up to an hour).
When ready to serve, eat 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter in the frying pan over a moderately high flame.
Sauté 3 cakes at a time until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes.
Add more butter as necessary.
May be served with creamy corn sauce.
Spoon warm corn sauce on plate and place seafood cake on top.
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