Pinch My Salt

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Sweet Skillet Corn Bread with Bacon and Fresh Cut Corn

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Cut Corn Bread

Can you believe I’ve made it through the tenth bread in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge? I was a little surprised to see a quick bread recipe in the book, but I’m really happy that Mr. Reinhart decided to include this corn bread.

It’s sweet and dense, without being too heavy.  The slices were crispy on the outside, but very moist inside.  The sweetness of the fresh cut corn is nicely balanced out by the salty bacon on top.  I pretty much loved everything about it!

Of course I’m from California and I grew up eating a fairly sweet corn bread.

Hot Corn Bread

This isn’t a corn bread that needs a bowl of black-eyed peas.  It doesn’t even need butter.  This corn bread can stand alone.  Although it’s probably sweet enough for dessert, I actually enjoyed it most for breakfast.  But it also paired nicely with the braised short ribs my sister and Aunt prepared last week after falling under the spell of The Barefoot Contessa.

But the thing about this ‘quick bread’ recipe is that it isn’t so quick.  It requires you to soak some coarse-ground cornmeal in buttermilk overnight.  You also have to saw the kernels off a few cobs of corn and fry up some bacon before you can proceed with the recipe.  But that is a small price to pay for such a big reward!

Corn Bread Overhead

The recipe said to use a 10-inch round cake pan for the bread, but I prefer corn bread baked in a cast iron skillet.  I preheated my 10-inch skillet in the oven and poured in some of the leftover bacon drippings and swirled them around.  The book actually instructed me to do this, but you know I would have done it anyway.  After pouring in the batter and hearing that satisfying sizzle, you sprinkle crumbled bacon over the top and gently press it in before returning the skillet to the oven.

The only problem I had with the recipe was the cooking time.  My corn bread took about 45 minutes to bake through, not 30 minutes as the book suggested.  Everyone else had the same issue, so it wasn’t just my oven.  Make sure you keep that in mind if you’re going to give this one a try.  And really, I think you should give it a try.  The recipe can be found on page 151 of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

Corn Bread Missing a Slice

For those of you who are participating in The BBA Challenge, here are some questions:  How did you like the Corn Bread?   Did you make any changes?  Would you make it again?

And remember, if you wrote a blog post about the Corn Bread, or have photos available online, please leave a comment and share your link!

The Next Bread

Next we will be making Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread.  We have the option of using other types of dried fruit or nuts, so I’m actually making Cherry Pecan Celebration Bread.  The instructions begin on page 154 of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  I have to tell you that I’m ready to get past these sweet breads, but at least I’ll get some more practice braiding bread dough!  Good luck and happy baking!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun!  First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  Read the first section of the book carefully, as this will prepare you for the bread recipes in the second section of the book.  Then just jump in and bake some Anadama Bread, which is the first recipe in the book.  But first, please visit The BBA Challenge Page for more details on how to participate in the group!

If you haven’t already, you might want to bookmark the BBA Challenge Page.  From there you can see which breads are coming up soon, find answers to Frequently Asked Questions, visit and/or add yourself to our World Map, see the BBA Challenge Blogroll, and check out the continually updated slideshow of BBA Bread photos from our ever-expanding group of bakers!

Corn Bread from other BBA Challenge members:

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Daniel says

    I know you are jealous of my DLX, but at this moment I am totally jealous of your cast iron pan. They're quite expensive here, so when I had to get one, I got the biggest one I could find, which, unfortunately for baking, but awesome for cooking, came with a wooden handle. Here's my cornbread, baked in a springform pan because, as I've learned, every cake pan in Germany is a springform pan: http://aehrelichgesagt.blogspot.com/2009/07/bba-challenge-10-corn-bread.html
    Reply

  4. Dianne says

    Hey Nicole, thank you for including a link to my corn bread in this post! I really appreciate it! Meanwhile, your corn bread looks delectable. Seeing your results, I wish I had gone with my instinct to use a cast-iron skillet!
    Reply

  5. Deb says

    This was my least favorite bread so far but then I have never been a huge fan of cornbread anyway! As always, your photos look great! http://tinyurl.com/mzo6jx
    Reply

  13. Andrea says

    I made mine on Monday and I actually made chili to go with it (in August). I had to, it's one of my hubby's favs - chili and cornbread. And now there's no going back to a box of Jiffy, that's for sure! I also had an issue with cooking time. I made mine in a 9x13pan, and it cooked for about 45 minutes (and probably could have standed another 5-10 minutes! It was super moist inside. I can't beileve I am saying this, but in pairing it with chili again, I would probalby ditch the bacon. But it was very nice to have for breakfast the next day. But definitely a keeper of a recipe!
    Reply

  14. Jon T. says

    I love this recipe! It's one of those very rich dishes (because of all the bacon) that works well with Thanksgiving dinner. It always gets raves.
    Reply

  15. Natalie says

    I LOVE that you used the cast iron! Too many people are afraid of using it, and miss out on so much flavor and textures. I couldn't tell if you used corn, but I have a similar recipe that uses fresh corn and cheddar cheese. It is delicious.
    Reply

  16. Sean says

    I'm going to make this, whether my wife approves of bacon in cornbread or not... I am wondering how critical the overnight soak is. Anyone have a guess as to what would happen if I just soaked it for a few hours? I kinda hate overnight recipes... When you soak it overnight, do you really do it from the night before until the next evening, or just the next morning? Seems odd to leave buttermilk out at room temp for almost 24 hours, but I'm probably too paranoid.
    Reply

  17. AP269 says

    Unfortunately, this bread was another big disappointment for me. Oh well... Yours looks great, though!!!!!! Not gummy at all! Here's my post: http://ap269.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/bba-challenge-10-corn-bread/
    Reply

  19. Shannon says

    I thought this bread was amazing! I decreased the amount of bacon by half and left out the corn. I actually wanted my husband to eat it, and adding corn would have meant that he wouldn't have touched a single crumb. Here's my link http://cupcakesnsunshine.blogspot.com/2009/11/bba-challenge-cornbread.html
    Reply

  20. Barbara J Driggers says

    Love, love corn bread. But oven is broke. Can I make it in cast iron skillet on top of stove and how would I get the top brown. As far as Cast Iron skillet. No household should be without one. I cook everything in some kind of cast iron. But Never, never buy one with a wooden handle, that is not an old fashioned cast iron skillet. Was raised on cast iron, whether cooking inside out out doors. Good Luck, your recipe was awesome and picture beautiful.
    Reply

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