Delicate Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, combine the milk, baking soda or baking powder, lard, and salt.
Stir in enough white meal to achieve a batter consistency similar to sponge cake.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes 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
- Milk
- Provides the liquid that hydrates the meal and gives the batter its moisture.
- Baking soda or baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the cornbread rise and become light.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and helps the surface brown.
- White meal
- Forms the structure of the cornbread as its starches set during baking.
The step that matters
Stir in the white meal to sponge-cake consistency. Too much meal makes the batter stiff and dry, producing a dense, crumbly loaf, while too little leaves it runny and weak in structure. The batter should be pourable yet thick enough to hold gas bubbles from the leavening.
“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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