All About Cornbread
Corn and the simple breads made from cornmeal have been around
for thousands of years but good Southern cooks have perfected this
favorite - from the simple combination of cornmeal, salt and water
often called hoecakes, to main dishes featuring a corn bread crust
or the ethereal corn meal soufflé called spoonbread.
Cornbread Preferences
Cornbread lovers have definite opinions about the way to make
good cornbread. Should cornbread be made from white or yellow
corn meal? Should you add sugar? Should it be thick or thin; round
or square, baked in a cast iron skillet or cake pan? And the debate
goes on.
Of course, it all comes down to what you like, but we can make some
broad observations about preferences. For Southern purists, the
sugar bowl doesn’t come near the cornbread batter, and white corn
meal is preferred, baked in a cast iron skillet. Residents of the
Southwest prefer unsweetened cornbread made with yellow corn
meal and like to bake it in a square pan. And everywhere else, people
like their cornbread yellow and sweet. There are always exceptions
and it really doesn’t matter what kind of cornbread you make as long
as you maintain your family cornbread traditions.
Corn Meal Glossary
Since there are so many different kinds of cornbread, Martha White
makes a corn meal or cornbread mix to suit every taste – made from
both white and yellow corn meal.
Plain Corn Meal: Simply dried ground corn.
Self-Rising Corn Meal: Plain corn meal blended with leavening like
baking powder and soda and salt for convenient, fool-proof baking.
Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix: The best selling Martha White corn
meal product, this corn meal is like self-rising except it has a little flour
added for lighter, moister cornbread. It is available with white or
yellow corn meal.
Buttermilk Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix: Buttermilk powder, which
gives a traditional tangy flavor to cornbread, is added to self-rising
corn meal mix. This product is convenient for folks who like the
buttermilk flavor, but don’t always have fresh buttermilk on hand.
Martha White Cornbread Mixes
Building on our reputation for providing consumers with convenient
baking products, Martha White has developed a whole line of
cornbread mixes packaged in premeasured pouches.
Cotton Country™ Cornbread Mix and Buttermilk Cornbread Mix
both make traditional Southern style cornbread. Made with white corn
meal, they are not very sweet and make moist cornbread with a crisp,
brown crust.
Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix and Yellow Cornbread Mix are made
from yellow corn meal and provide you with a choice of “sweet” or
“not sweet” cornbread.
Mexican Cornbread Mix, Hush Puppy Mix and Corn Muffin Mix
each produce a convenient specialty corn meal product.
Also available are 19 oz. Family Size White and Sweet Yellow
Cornbread Mixes – enough to make two 8-inch skillets or one
10-inch skillet of moist, delicious cornbread.