Published May 1, 1998.
We wondered if our Southern-style cornbread recipe (white cornmeal and no flour or sugar) might have something to learn from our Northern-style cornbread recipe (yellow cornmeal, fair to generous portions of flour and sugar). Combining the two recipes to come up with a happy medium, we used yellow cornmeal for potent corn flavor, adding a small amount of sugar to enhance the natural sweetness of the corn. For this Northern-style variation, we also added some cake flour. We started with cornmeal mush (moistening the cornmeal with some water first) because cornbread that started with some mush had the most corn flavor we'd tasted yet, and it also produced a fine, moist crumb.
The addition of extra sugar and cake flour moves this cornbread a small step away from its Southern roots. Though still very far removed from Northern- style cornbread, this version has a subtle sweetness and a very fine texture.
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