Cornbread | Basics with Babish

hey folks this episode of Basics is sponsored by blue apron the first hundred people to sign up using the link in this video's description will get sixty dollars off their first three weeks today after we've learned how to make a few different kinds of cornbread blue apron is gonna teach us how to make a sweet version a cornmeal upside-down cake let's get down to basics [Music] so first let's start with the classic southern cornbread which I'm sure many southerners would say cannot be made without lard and I'm sure they'd also say that it contains no flour only high-quality cornmeal two cups worth to which we're going to add one teaspoon of kosher salt and a couple much-needed leaveners 1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda and right about now I'm noticing that this looks like not quite enough cornmeal yes and 2 cups 2 cups in this case of coarsely ground cornmeal which as you will see is going to make a notable difference in our final texture now onto the wet stuff 2 large eggs whisked together with 1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk and that's if true southern style cornbread is a simple but delicate dance like the square dance or the ratchet whisk the dry stuff into the wet stuff and then it's time to adjust for consistency I'm going for something a little bit thicker than pancake batter so I'm gonna add a little bit more cornmeal and paddle together until I find the thickness I desire then it's time to contend with our lard about 1/2 cups worth we're to melt our lard over medium flame in a cast-iron skillet and then when melted not hot we're going to add about half of it to our cornbread batter mixing together to combine the rest of the lard remains in the skillet which we're gonna place over a medium-high heat until shimmering we want this pan ripping hot so we can get a super crisp crust on the bottom of our cornbread carefully dump the batter into the hot oil where you should be met with some righteous sizzling smooth at the top and then this guy's headed straight into a preheated 425 degree fahrenheit oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until set light brown in the center and deep golden brown around the edges let cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving now the first thing you might notice about this cornbread is that it's pretty darned craggly I used a very coarse cornmeal in a thicker batter I did this to demonstrate two different concepts coarseness and batter thickness the effects they have on cornbread and you now I'm going to use the exact same recipe but this time using a much more finely ground cornmeal with none extra added so the batter stays relatively thin this despite the sparseness of the recipe is going to create a more delicate cake like structure which might be a little bit more pleasing to the mouth from here on out it gets the same treatment into the hot lard it goes which is gonna give it those nice crispy edges and then into the 425 degree fahrenheit oven it goes for 20 to 25 minutes this is a great opportunity to break out the good old fashioned toothpick test making sure that one emerges with only a few moist crumbs a Klingon let rest for 10 to 15 minutes on a wire rack before slicing and serving while still warm and as you can see this version looks and feels much more delicate and I gotta say I love southern style cornbread it's got a super crisp bottom that's effectively been deep-fried and all that fat and it's got a much more savory robust corny flavor than its cake like northern counterparts and as you can see grind size makes a huge difference but no matter what style of cornbread you're making I think an essential accompaniment is honey butter a life changing condiment that is achieved simply enough by whipping together two sticks of unsalted room-temperature butter with a quarter cup of honey just keep going until it's light and fluffy and no lumps remain and I know it sounds crazy that's something with a name like honey butter could be delicious I mean just listen to it honey butter honey butter honey butter but yeah it's totally awesome you're gonna want to spread it on everything most notably cornbread anyway to our friends south of the mason-dixon line I hope I've done you proud now let's make the sweet cakey Yankee version which as you can see involves more ingredients let's start with the dry and we're measuring things by weight this time around 5 ounces each of finely ground cornmeal and all-purpose flour the same 1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder baking soda and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt then this is gonna end up being jalapeno cornbread some and add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper which I'm going to tiny whisk to homogeneity or the state of being homogeneous then this is gonna end up being jalapeno cheddar cornbread so I'm also gonna add four ounces of grated cheddar which I'm just gonna toss to coat the dry ingredients so don't stick together before we begin to contend with the wet stuff America's Test Kitchen has a great method for upping the corn content of your cornbread by pulsing together 1/2 a cup of fresh corn kernels 1 and a half cups of buttermilk and the sweetener of your choice I'm going with 2 tablespoons of honey this is also the opportunity to add a cored and quartered jalapeno pepper this is not gonna bring much heat in and of itself is just gonna add some color hence why we added the cayenne pepper earlier we're just gonna pulse that until it's nicely chopped maybe six to eight pulses and then it's time to add the eggs two large eggs and of course the fat one stick of melted butter that we have allowed to cool completely so it don't scramble the eggs pulse this guy four to five times just enough to combine and then it's time to introduce it to our bowl of dry stuff we're gonna dig a well in the center into which we are going to pour our slurry just gonna make everything a little bit easier to combine and we are not whisking this we are mixing it gently with a paddle because this corn bread contains flour therefore it contains gluten therefore if we over mix it it can become tough I think the ideal baking vessel for any corn bread is cast iron which we are going to liberally butter before adding the cornbread I'm just gonna smooth that out a little bit and garnish with a few sliced jalapenos to indicate that this is indeed jalapeno cornbread you might notice that this batter is quite thick and that's okay cornbread is extraordinarily forgiving and after it's 20 to 25 minutes stint in a 425 degree fahrenheit oven we are testing it for doneness with a toothpick letting it cool for five to 10 minutes and then I'm going to give it a drizzle of honey brushing it on for even coverage this is going to create a nice sticky shiny glaze and it's also going to act as an adhesive for some flaky crunchy sea salt these toppings make an excellent adornment for any kind of cornbread and I just cannot recommend them enough and of course after allowing to cool for 10 to 15 minutes we are slicing and serving while still warm and you'll notice that the thicker batter cornbread has yielded both an uncracked top and a hearty err more robust texture one that I think suits the jalapeno cheddar variants very well the cast iron pan has aided in giving it a crunchy dark brown crust the filling is spicy and cheesy and the top is sticky and salty it pretty much rocks out loud but what if we want to go towards the sweeter side of things for that we're going to slightly alter our recipe this time using three tablespoons of sugar instead of two tablespoons of honey same baking powder baking soda and salt whisk together forgoing the pureed corn in favor of one and a half cups of buttermilk whisk together with two large eggs and utilizing the Baker's secret weapon brown butter into a cast iron pan goes one stick of butter which we're gonna melt over medium heat while swirling constantly why are we swelling constantly you might ask well how about a show and not tell then explode oh my god yeah so go ahead and swirl your butter constantly and forever until the milk fats separate and begin to turn brown pour into a heatproof container and then it's time to cool this down rapidly by adding two ice cubes give that a little mix and within one to two minutes or until the ice cubes are fully melted your butter mixture should be cooled off enough to play nice with eggs so we're gonna combine the two making sure to include all the nice brown milk solids add that to the dry ingredients and gently paddle to combine and with this recipe we're going for more of a pancake batter like consistency our cast iron pan is still lubed up with about of tablespoons worth of that brown butter and hopefully it's still nice and hot so we're gonna add our cornbread batter smooth it out and dump it directly into our 425 degree fahrenheit oven for how long guess it that's right 20 to 25 minutes until deep golden brown around the edges and a toothpick tester emerges relatively unscathed brush down with a few tablespoons of honey sprinkled with flaky crunchy sea salt let cool for 10 to 15 minutes and slice and serve while still warm and call me a northerner I guess because I think this is the apex of the art form the brown butter brings a distinct nuttiness that really plays well with the corn and if you introduce honey butter into this situation I mean shut the front door cornbread is usually an accompaniment but in this case it is the main event it so perfectly straddles the line between sweet and savory you could serve it with chili or with the strawberries and whipped cream but what if you want to see how distinctly dessert your cornbread can get well for that we turn to blue apron where they have ingeniously devised a deceivingly simple cornmeal upside-down cake topped with chopped figs walnuts and golden raisins which we're gonna toss quickly and a butter toffee spread evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet and topped with a very thin cornbread batter for a fine cake like consistency this recipe is one of the countless examples of how blue apron can help you explore new territories in the kitchen all their meals are perfectly portioned to minimize food waste and prices start at 7 dollars and 49 cents per serving every week there are 16 different recipes to choose from with plans that serve either two or four people the fresh ingredients and easy to follow recipe cards arrive in a refrigerated box so they will stay fresh even if you're not home when your package arrives so build your confidence in the kitchen and learn amazing new recipes like this one and try blue aprons a day the first 100 people to sign up using the link in this video's description will receive $60 off their first three weeks of blue apron so what are you waiting for give it a shot and get cooking [Music]

Channel: Babish Culinary Universe

Views: 2,430,403

Rating: 4.9362745 out of 5

Keywords: cornbread, how to make cornbread, cornbread recipe, brown butter, jalapeno cornbread, cheddar cornbread, jalapeno cheddar cornbread, basics with babish, binging with babish, babbish, corn bread, how to make honey butter, honey butter recipe, cheddar cornbread recipe, jalapeno cornbread recipe, jalapeno cheddar cornbread recipe, pear qwerty horse, babish cornbread, cornbread babish

Id: nAtCqHJofJk

Length: 9min 39sec (579 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 12 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/TheCooksCook]

Bread? It’s cake and you know it! Only America could come up with a way to eat cake as a side with dinner. And I love ya for it! I’ve never successfully made cornbread gonna give it a go after this, thanks Babish