My uncle has perfected his perfect Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread recipe!
- 1 tsp baking soda
- dry mix
- 1.5 cups corn meal
- .75 cups whole wheat unbleached flour
- 2 tbsp organic cane sugar
- 2 tbsp wisconsin buttermilk powder
- i tbsp baking powder
- 1.25 tsp salt
- wet mix
- 3 medium eggs
- .83 cup of 2% milk.
- .25 cup canola oil
- .66 cup raw frozen corn kernels (pre-heated)
- .33 cup of fresh chopped jalapeno pepper
- 1 tbsp roasted garlic
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce
- Carbohydrate 138.220448333333 g
- Cholesterol 1757.05 mg
- Fat 282.213616714006 g
- Fiber 17.9044826758703 g
- Protein 59.036065 g
- Saturated Fat 131.991892670153 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (777g)
- Sodium 4823.06466666667 mg
- Sugar 120.315965657463 g
- Trans Fat 19.7306806672428 g
- Calories 3282 calories
Step-by-step
- Beat the eggs first by themselves. Add the oil and beat again.
- Add the half cup milk and beat again.
- Add the chopped pepper and corn kernels to wet mix and let it sit.
- Don't bother sifting the flour--it won't make any difference.
- Add all the dry mix ingredients and mix vigorously and thoroughly. Make sure all the dry ingredients are truly mixed well.
- Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and really beat it together. Don't be shy here.
- You may need to add a little bit of the reserved milk to get the viscosity right. -If it sheets off the spoon it's too wet. -If it won't drop easily off the spoon it's too dry. -It needs to be someplace in between--maybe a medium fast ooze off the spoon.
- Meanwhile, let the final mix sit while you find your skillet and wipe it generously with some canola oil.
- NOTE: You should have your oven totally pre-heated and and up running at the correct HOT baking temperature--at least 400 degrees.
- Put skillet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn off oven and let sit for another 10 minutes in the oven to get the center cooked. Cut in parallel strips (NOT pie pieces) and serve!
Baking cornbread inside a cast iron skillet requires thermal mass to generate an aggressive exterior crust before the interior overcooks. Preheating the iron vessel at 400 degrees Fahrenheit ensures that the batter immediately sizzles upon contact, polymerizing the oil and starch into a crisp boundary. Beating the eggs separately before incorporating the canola oil creates a stable emulsion, trapping air that expands alongside the leavening agents. Whole wheat unbleached flour contributes structural gluten, holding up against the heavy density of cornmeal without requiring sifting. Capsaicin from fresh chopped jalapeno peppers and allicin from roasted garlic disperse evenly through the lipid phase, mellowing slightly under high heat while retaining pungent aromatics. Buttermilk powder introduces lactic acid, reacting with baking soda to release carbon dioxide bubbles that aerate the crumb structure. Adobo sauce adds acetic acid and complex smoke notes, lowering the overall pH and intensifying the browning reactions of the sugars. Adjust the milk gradually until the batter achieves a medium-fast ooze from the spoon rather than sheeting or clumping. Letting the skillet rest inside the turned-off oven for ten minutes utilizes residual ambient heat to complete the internal gelatinization of starches without scorching the base. While this specific iteration contains dairy and gluten, substituting plant-based milks and neutral oils alters neither the thermal requirements nor the fundamental leavening chemistry of the bake.
