Eggless Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Sift together the cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Dissolve the sweetening in the sour milk and add it to the sifted dry ingredients.
Add the melted shortening and 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 body of the bread and gives it its characteristic grainy texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk's acidity to produce carbon dioxide, helping the cornbread rise.
- Baking powder
- Provides additional leavening so the batter rises in the oven.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tang.
- Shortening
- Adds fat for tenderness and moisture, and helps keep the crumb from drying out.
The step that matters
Add the melted shortening and mix well. Mixing the batter only until it is combined keeps the crumb tender. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour and can make the cornbread tough. Leavening starts reacting as soon as the wet and dry ingredients meet, so the batter should go into the oven promptly.
“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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