Sweet Corn Cake
Our most requested recipe! You will find Sweet Corn Cake served with many entrees at Blue Mesa Grill. Steaming – the secret to its success – can be hard to duplicate in home kitchens. A home adapted recipe follows that is oven baked and very close to the original.
Serves 10-12 as a side dish
- 1/3 cup Crisco shortening
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups corn masa harina*
- 1/3 cup ice water
- 4 cups fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels (about 1 lb. frozen)
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Place Crisco and butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add corn masa to butter mixture and mix for 2 minutes or until thoroughly incorporated. Add the ice water and mix at medium for 1 minute or until completely absorbed.
- Place the corn kernels in a processor work bowl with the metal blade. Pulse on and off until mixture is coarsely chopped. Set aside.
- Combine the corn meal, sugar, heavy cream, baking powder and salt in a large 4-quart mixing bowl.
- Add the masa mixture and the ground corn to the corn meal/sugar mixture. Stir to combine thoroughly.
- Pour the batter into a prepared pan, cover tightly with aluminum foil to retain the steam, and bake for 45 minutes at 375°.
*Note on Masa Harina: you can purchase Masa Harina, dried corn that has been ground and treated, at most markets. It is the basic ingredient used in making tamale dough (also called masa).