Molasses Corn Bread

I am sharing one of my NEW favorite corn bread recipes with you today! Why is it my favorite? Because it's delicious! It is the perfect balance of savory with just a tiny hint of sweet. Moist and tasty with a bit of crunch from the corn meal.
It is a recipe I have had in my Big Blue Binder for many years. The original name of it was Indian Bread. I didn't think that was appropriate for this day and age and I also felt that people might confuse it with Naan bread and so I have changed the name to Molasses Corn Bread.

Which really makes sense as it is sweetened with molasses which lends an almost smoky quality to the bread. Corn and molasses are perfect partners!

Corn bread was not something which my mother ever cooked for us when I was growing up. I had never tasted it until I got married and my late Mother In Law shared her recipe for what she called "Corn Cake" with me.

The first Christmas after my ex husband (the father of my children) and I were married, my mother in law sent me a lovely little hand-written notebook full of her tried and true favorite recipes. The corn cake recipe was in there.
It would be several years before I actually tried it. I just did not really know what corn bread was. One year when we happened to be home visiting my in-laws, my mother-in-law baked it for us and it was love at first bite.

She served it with her home-baked beans and some ham. She baked her beans with tomato soup. I had never had baked beans made with tomato soup before and I have to say they were delicious! I should bake them that way sometime and share them on here. I am sure you would really like them!
My mother-in-law was a very simple cook, but an excellent cook. My father-in-law was a cook in the armed forces and so she had to be! I actually learned a great deal about cooking from both of them. Lessons that I value greatly to this day.

Her father had owned the General Store in North Tryon, PEI. Her brother ran it after her father passed away. I can remember going to the store when I was a child and we were visiting my mother's sister on the Island.
It was one of those old General stores that had creaky wooden floors and carried everything but the kitchen sink. I can remember buying frozen sherbet cones with my cousins. Of course I had no idea at that age that one day I would be marrying into that same family. Funny how life goes!

And of course none of that has anything at all to do with this corn bread recipe except to say that I love corn bread, my late mother-in-law made an excellent one, and this version is even better than that!
It is dense, slightly sweet and moist. I think you are going to like this one as well!

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE MOLASSES CORN BREAD
Very simple baking cupboard ingredients.

1 1/2 cups (149g) sifted all purpose flour
1 cup (170g) cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large free range egg, beaten
1/2 cup (175g) molasses (can use equal parts of light and dark treacle)
1 2/3 cup (404.5g) whole milk
2 TBS canola oil or light olive oil

Sift the flour before you measure it. That is what the recipe says. Don't pack it into the measuring cup, instead spoon it in and level it off.
Cornmeal is not something which is very common in the U.K. When I was over there I used to buy my cornmeal from an American grocery supply site, or I would use fine polenta, which worked well.
Molasses is also not a very common ingredient in the U.K. I always used equal measures of golden syrup and dark treacle combined in the place of molasses. Dark treacle on its own had far too strong of a flavor..

I remember making my mother-in-laws gingersnaps for an occasion not too long after I moved to the U.K. and using dark treacle, thinking it was the same. They were inedible. Totally inedible.
The original recipe called for melted lard. I thought that a cooking oil would suffice. I use light olive oil, but you can use any cooking oil you like to use, just so long as it doesn't have a strong flavor.
I have included the variation which uses blueberries. I am thinking that cranberries would also work very well in this tasty bread!

HOW TO MAKE MOLASSES CORN BREAD
Like any quick bread, this is a very simple bread to make. Just mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet and then combine the two of them together and bake to perfection!
Preheat the oven to 450*F/ 232*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9-inch baking tin really well. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, soda, salt and baking powder together in a bowl. Whisk the egg, milk, molasses and oil together in a beaker.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
Bake for 20 minutes until well risen and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The top should also spring back when lightly touched.
Serve hot, cut into squares with or without butter and molasses or honey.

Notes

VARIATION: A nice variation is to add 1 cup of blueberries (1/2 pint). In this instance bake in a 9-inch round deep tin and cut into wedges to serve.

I could not resist a piece of this bread, fresh from the oven and spread with plenty of butter. I added a drizzle of extra molasses, just because. Oh my, but this was some good.
I am thinking it would be excellent for a Saturday night supper alongside of some home baked beans, ham and scalloped potatoes. My taste buds are tingling just thinking about it!

I am no stranger to corn bread. I love the stuff. If you also love corn bread, you might also enjoy the following recipes I have posted in the past:

CUSTARD FILLED CORN BREAD - This is one of my favorite corn breads to make. It is a basic corn bread batter, filled with sour milk (for moistness), butter, some corn for added texture, and of course the usual flour, cornmeal, etc. A whole cup of cream is poured into the center before baking, which results in a moist and delicious cornbread with a rich and delicious custard layer. I like the leftovers heated for breakfast, with a drizzle of maple syrup on top of course!

BLUEBERRY & VANILLA BREAKFAST CORN BREAD - This tasty corn bread has all of the elements of a regular corn bread which I enjoy, but it has been amped up to a degree that will have everyone smacking their lips in anticipation! Delicious and moist, it is perfect served for breakfast. With is beautiful vanilla flavor and the berries, its just lovely served warm for breakfast with lashings of butter and honey!'

Yield: one 9-inch squareAuthor: Marie Rayner