Grandmother’s Cornbread Cake

My grandmother developed this recipe for a cake-like cornbread after hearing her little brother claim cornbread hurt his throat! I added my own spin to my grandmother’s Cornbread Cake recipe. My comments are in parentheses.

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Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 5 min   Cook Time: 20-25 min  

Ingredients

1 cup each: all purpose flour and cornmeal (any grind/color/etc)
4 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (or splash a tablespoon or 2 of vinegar in measuring cup and add enough regular milk to make 1 1/2 cps liquid.  Let sit 5 minutes to sour then proceed with recipe.)
1 egg
4 Tbsp shortening (I use butter)

Directions

1. Sift dry ingredients together (I don’t sift, I whisk); add beaten egg and milk (hold back 1/4 cup buttermilk, your batter might not need it) to make stiff batter.

2. Add shortening (I use butter), beat (I lightly stir) until well mixed. Pour into greased pan (I use a 10 inch cast iron frying pan–it was hers originally–I melt 2 TB butter or bacon grease directly in the pan in the oven while the oven is preheating. When the fat is almost smoking and oven is up to full temperature I pour in the batter. You will hear it sizzle which means it’ll have a crispy crust.)

3. Bake in hot oven 425° for 15 minutes.(She originally fixed this in a woodstove so several of her recipes call for hot or moderate ovens 😉 )

4. Brush top with butter and bake 5-10 minutes longer. (My oven took longer.) Serve hot.

Categories: Breads, Other Breads

Tags: cast-iron-skillet, Southern

Submitted by: lizpike on July 25, 2011