Corn Pone
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Combine cornmeal and lard in a bowl.
Pour boiling water over the mixture and stir until well combined.
Let the mixture cool.
Add baking powder and salt.
Mix until smooth.
Shape and bake
Shape the mixture into small pones.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F until golden brown.
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 pones, giving them their grainy structure and corn flavour.
- Boiling water
- Hydrates the cornmeal and starch so the mixture binds into a workable dough.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the pones and helps them brown in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas as it reacts, lightening the pones so they rise a little in the oven.
The step that matters
Letting the mixture cool before adding the leavening. Baking powder begins reacting as soon as it meets moisture, and the gas it releases is best trapped when the batter is cool enough to hold it. Adding it to a very hot mixture can lose lift before baking.
“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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