Rich and Moist Cornbread Recipe – Rich and moist cornbread with an amplified corn flavor that comes from using real corn purée in the batter. It’s wonderfully sweet, a little savory and ooh so good with whipped honey butter!
Servings: 8
INGREDIENTS
1 cup minus 2 tablespoon (200 grams) unsalted butter
450 grams (1 pound) frozen sweet corn, thawed
1/3 cup (80 grams) heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon (45 grams) whole milk
2 medium eggs (about 83 grams without the shell)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (106 grams) all purpose flour (*see note for substitution)
2 tablespoons (14 grams) cornstarch (*see note for substitution)
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons (80 grams) cornmeal, medium grind
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar (*see note below)
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
¼ cup (84 gram) honey
Tiny pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
TO MAKE THE CORNBREAD:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350F/180C.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over high heat. Add the corn, and cook until golden brown, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan continuously to prevent scorching; about 15 minutes.
Transfer the corn-and-butter mixture to a blender, and blend until slightly pureed. Add in the cream and milk and blend on high until smooth. Add the eggs and continue blending until well mixed.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda until combined.
Transfer the corn puree to the flour mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula, until no flour pockets remain. Be careful not to overtax. Batter will be very thick.
Pour batter into an oven-safe 9 to 10-inch skillet (cast iron, if you have one) that has been greased with butter. If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, use an 8 to 9-inch cake pan, greased with butter and dusted with flour.
Bake for 35-40 or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or a digital food thermometer inserted in the center registers 194F/ 90C.
Serve warm with whipped honey butter (recipe below). Store leftover in an airtight container at room temperature, reheating individual serving in the microwave.
TO MAKE THE WHIPPED HONEY BUTTER:
Add the butter, honey and salt in a bowl and whip with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer until light and fluffy; 3 to 5 minutes.
Serve at room temperature on top of the warm cornbread.
RECIPE NOTES
If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, use an 8 to 9-inch cake pan.
Recipe can be doubled and baked in a 12 to 13inch skillet. Baking time will need to be adjusted, as it will take longer to bake.
Bleached cake flour may be substituted in place of the all purpose flour/ cornstarch combination. Omit both the all purpose and cornstarch and use 1 cup (120 grams) cake flour instead.
The original recipe uses isomalt in place of some of the sugar. Isomalt is a sugar alcohol that is half as sweet as sugar, and it is believed to make this cornbread incredibly tender. I substituted it by adding half its amount in sugar, with amazing results. Although I don’t see this bread lacking in any tenderness, if you’re would like to try it out with the isomalt, use 115 grams isomalt in addition to 45 grams granulated sugar.
Source: cleobuttera.com