Quick cornbread

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Quick cornbread

Another great recipe from Nik and Edwina's Cookbook.

To quote:

"This is absolutely wonderful, a light, fluffy, corny bread with a slightly lemony flavour. It's really fast to make, so technically you could make it on Sunday mornings; with fried tomatoes and bacon it makes a superb breakfast. In reality, we are not that organised and make it on Saturday night and heat it through the next day as it is best served warm. Having said that Nik really loves this cold and used for sandwiches. A hint of chilli works well, but it's not necessary.

You can use one large 25 cm baking tin, or a selection of smaller non stick containers to make smaller cornbreads which bake faster- we’'ve also found that a silicon muffin baking tray is great to make individual size cornbreads, which are perfect for making little bacon buns. The Tomato and Chilli Jelly works well with it too."

Ingredients

• 120g plain flour - we used strong baking flour, but normal flour is fine
• 120g fine polenta or cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 284ml buttermilk (or runny natural probiotic yogurt)
• 100ml milk
• 50g butter, melted and cooled
• 1 fresh red chilli, very finely chopped (optional)

Mise en place

• Pre-heat the oven to 200° C (400° F - gas 6)

Method

1. Butter a your baking tin.
2. Combine the flour, cornmeal or polenta, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat the eggs with the buttermilk/ yogurt, milk, and melted butter. Add the chilli, if using.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to create a smooth batter
4. Pour into the baking tin or silicon tray. Bake for between 15 to 25 minutes depending on the container until golden brown, firm and beginning to pull away from the sides of the container. Cut into squares whilst warm, and serve, or, if using the silicon tray, pop them out onto plates and serve

See also

• Cornbread recipe (with sweetcorn) - Cornbread with whole sweetcorn kernels.
• Cheese and chilli cornbread - Jamie Oliver's perfect combination