Hi Everyone,
A couple of years ago, no, wait almost 4 years ago (where does the time go?!) I wrote telling you about an amazing cornbread I had at a barbeque restaurant in the United States. I loved the cornbread so much that when I got back to the Caribbean all I could think of was finding a recipe to replicate the sweet cornbread I’d eaten. I tried 2 recipes from my favourite chefs (both with Southern Roots) and while both cornbread(s) were tasty in their own right, they didn’t cut it for me. After that period of trying one recipe after another I decided that I would just settle for having the cornbread whenever I went back to the restaurant in the States.
The other day I was planning on cooking some ribs. I wanted to serve it with cornbread and other fixings. I typed, ‘sweet cornbread’ into the search box on the Internet and pages of recipes came up. I read through recipes for about an hour and made notes of a few, then I decided to do a different search, this time, I chose to search for the sweet cornbread by images. Many beautiful images of cornbread plastered by screen. I cross-referenced some of the images with the recipes I had made a note of. The recipe I finally settled on did not have the most attractive photograph but two things jumped out at me, the writer said: if you like your cornbread sweet, you will like this… and, without boasting, she mentioned that she made the mixture and baked it as muffins, and they won first place at a local country fair. I thought that I would to give the recipe a try. I tested the recipe a week in advance.
It was exactly the taste I was after. Full of flavour from the butter, sweet, moist and tender, just the way I wanted it. From my little baking knowledge, I knew that in addition to the butter, the sugar contributed to the moistness of the cornbread. I cut and ate 2 pieces of the cornbread while it was still warm, oh my, it was so good! I ate the pieces, one immediately after the other and was seriously contemplating having a third piece when my conscience began to bother me. “Moderation, Cynthia,” I whispered to myself. I sat down and thought to myself – so this is how that cornbread I had in the States was made! But gosh, the recipe calls for a lot of sugar, no wonder the other recipes I had tried in the past disappointed, those recipes only had half the amount of sugar this recipe called for. I counter-argued with myself: but those other recipes called for bacon! You see what I mean about the less you know? And that is something we can say about a lot of things we eat, especially when we eat out! But hey, you only live once. Moderation and portion control is what we have to keep practicing.
I wrapped up the third piece of cornbread that I had already cut and put it away for another day. The rest of the cornbread I gave to a couple of friends.
I am conflicted by this whole cornbread situation. On one hand I am so glad to have found a recipe that hits the spot and has the exact taste I was after. On the other hand, I am tormented by the amount of sugar I know is in the cornbread. While moderation comes easily for me, for most things, this cornbread is a different story. I seem to want it often and not in small pieces either. Every time I think of having a little something (not food-food) but something in-between, I envisage having the cornbread and a cup of tea. Actually, as I write this column I am here wishing that that is what I could have for dinner this evening. You see my dilemma? If only I had never found that recipe… sometimes it’s best not to know certain things. What do you think?
Sweet Cornbread
(Adapted from Patty Bourne)
Photo by Cynthia Nelson
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup fine cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, room temperature
½ cup butter, melted (plus extra to grease pan)
1 cup milk (preferably at room temperature)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter an 8-inch baking dish/pan and set aside.
Add flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon to a large bowl and mix well.
Mix together the eggs, milk and butter and beat for 1 minute.
Pour the egg-milk-butter mixture into the flour-cornmeal mixture and mix until just blended, do not over mix.
Pour into greased pan/dish and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes before cutting. Serve warm.
NOTES
The cornbread can be baked in a cast iron skillet.
You can turn the mixture into muffins by baking in a regular-sized 12-cup muffin pan. Grease the pan first or line the pan with muffin cups then add the mixture and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
In place of butter, you can use shortening or a flavourless oil.
Cynthia
