Monday, January 15, 2007

sweet vanilla cornbread

this recipe is from baker & author beth hensperger, and is one of her recipes i had been meaning to try for a while as it uses icing sugar & vanilla — a copious amount of it at that — not your normal cornbread ingredients. i did not know what to expect really, as it is different from the regular run-of-the-mill types of cornbreads.

i was actually quite pleased with the results. it is sweet but not overly so and despite the seemingly large amount of vanilla, it doesn't taste overly vanilla-y. you can use fine or medium grind cornmeal. i used medium and liked the texture it gave the bread.

"la beth's cornbread" makes for a nice breakfast or morning snack with coffee or tea. i can certainly see it going with some type of [vegetarian] chili dish or nice creamy soup. this is also one of the fastest cornbreads you can make, probably only taking a good 15 minutes.

sweet vanilla cornbread ["la beth's"]

ingredients:

1 c yellow cornmeal, fine or medium grind
1 c ap flour
3/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1 1/4 c buttermilk
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

method:

preheat oven to 350 F.

grease an 8 x 8" pan with some butter.

measure 6 tbsp butter and melt it. keep it aside.

in a bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, icing sugar, salt, baking powder and soda. mix well to distribute all.

in a measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk. add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed. don't worry about lumps.

add the melted butter to the batter and mix well until it is incorporated. don't overmix.

add the mixture to the pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

place the baked cornbread on a rack to cool in the pan. don't touch it for 15 to 20 minutes. it will have nicely browned around the edges and pulled away a bit from the edges when it is ready.

enjoy!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

cornbread thief :D bookmarking anyway :)

burekaboy — said...

sarina - LOL ... wotchu' talkkin' bout?! drinking the rum punch again, i see :))

Anonymous said...

yummy! thanks for sharing the recipe!

Beenzzz said...

Hey BB, I love cornbread. It's such yummy stuff. I used to make a giant pan of it and eat it throughout the week. This was back in my younger, poor college student days. :)) I must try it with the vanilla though. I bet it really adds a nice subtle flavor to it.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I love anything made with cornmeal and cornbread is one of my all-time fave!

I've already made sweet cornbread ("Orange Cornmeal Bread" - see my blog) and it's fabulous, but I have never baked this version...

I'll have to try this recipe!

Thanks for sharing.

burekaboy — said...

xazuru - thanks for stopping by and commenting :) glad you like the recipe.

beenzzz - i used to eat this often, too. usually it was filled with hot chilis :) this version is actually quite nice and the whole tablespoon of vanilla doesn't ruin it at all. at first, i thought it would be too much but quite the opposite.

rosa - beth hensperger's recipes are very good, usually. this is no exception. orange cornbread sounds very good :) hadn't thought of that variation.

K Allrich said...

This looks luscious. I love cornbread recipes because they translate easily to gluten-free. And with vanilla? What's not to love? This is now on my to-bake list.

Thanks, Handsome!

burekaboy — said...

hey there goddess - you're most welcome. hope you like it. i saw another gf version using 2/3 rice 1/3 tapioca flour to substitute for the 1 c AP. i'm sure you already know what to do, though! :)

Sharon Pickering said...

Ohhhh....this is right up my allye. Sweet and buttermilk-y!

burekaboy — said...

:) annie! - i actually thought of you as i was mixing in the buttermilk, saying to myself, "i bet she'd like this one!" :))

Anonymous said...

made this yesterday night.must tell you cornbread is not one of my fave cakes but certainly this one came out spongy and different.loved the vanilla aroma in it.j gobbled it up and that's such a good compliment bec he's a picky eater! thanks bb, you never deceive me

burekaboy — said...

sari - thanks for letting me how it turned out :) i actually really like this recipe as it's different from the regular drier versions of 'cornbread'. the vanilla in it makes it very different. it MUST have been good if j devoured it!! :)) now you have to surprise him with the brownies!

you should look on amazon (dot com) and check out beth's books. you'd probably like them.