Eggless Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Sift together the cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Dissolve the sweetening in the milk.
Add the dissolved sweetening to the sifted dry ingredients.
Add the melted shortening.
Mix well.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased shallow tin.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body of the bread and gives it its characteristic grainy texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that lifts and lightens the batter.
- Baking powder
- Provides additional rising so the cornbread bakes up light.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tang and moisture to the batter.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps the cornbread moist.
The step that matters
Mix the batter only until well combined. Once liquid meets the leavening, gas starts forming right away, so the batter should go into the tin and into the oven promptly to keep the rise. Overmixing can also toughen the crumb.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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