Up north (in the US) is where you find a lot of sugar in cornbread - I remember some that was like a cake, with a cup of flour, a cup of cornmeal, and up to 3/4 c of sugar! Down south, it was traditional to have no flour or sugar, and always white cornmeal, with a lot of butter or lard. I never made any with the coarse polenta type cornmeal, and usually only a small amount of sugar, but that is to serve with savory dishes, not as dessert. I like the flavor of cornmeal, and have made cookies with them, so I can see making a cake with it, but only the finer stuff - the coarse just seems like it needs cooked differently.