Skillet cornbread
A golden buttermilk cornbread baked in a sizzling hot cast-iron pan, so the edges turn crisp while the crumb stays tender and moist.
Method
- 1
Put the butter in the cast-iron pan, set it in the oven and heat the oven to 220°C.
- 2
Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a large bowl.
- 3
In a second bowl, whisk the eggs into the buttermilk.
- 4
Once the butter has melted and is foaming, take the pan out with oven gloves and swirl the butter up the sides.
- 5
Pour most of the butter into the buttermilk mixture, leaving a thin coating in the pan, and whisk it in.
- 6
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. A few lumps are fine.
- 7
Scrape the batter into the hot pan. It should sizzle at the edges.
- 8
Bake until the top is golden, the edges pull away from the pan and a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
- 9
Cool in the pan before cutting into wedges.
Notes
- The hot pan is what gives the crisp, browned crust, so do not skip heating it with the butter.
- Without cast iron, use a buttered 23 cm square cake tin, heated the same way, and bake for about 25 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter and honey. Leftovers dry out quickly but make excellent stuffing.
Equipment
25 cm cast-iron frying pan, 2 mixing bowls, Whisk, Spatula, Oven gloves