Breakfast Corn Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Scald the cornmeal at night and let it cool.
Add the yeast, shortening, molasses, and salt and stir well.
Bake
In the morning, pour the mixture into a buttered tin.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) 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 and structure of the cornbread.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the batter rise.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that keeps the crumb tender.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Let the scalded cornmeal cool. Scalding softens the cornmeal, but very hot mixtures can kill yeast. Cooling it fully before adding the yeast keeps the yeast active so the batter can rise.
“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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