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his recipe comes directly from Brad McDonald’s book ‘Deep South‘. After being lucky enough to dine in his awesome restaurant ‘The Lockhart’ before he packed up to open ‘Shotgun BBQ‘ I experienced the jaw dropping sights and tastes of his signature cornbread. Basted in thick honeyed butter bubbling at the sides in its case iron dish it was brought to the table disguised as a lemon drizzle!? And boy did it taste good. Its a bit simpler in flavour (and perhaps authenticity?) than my own signature version which you can find here which is full of sweetcorn for texture, chilli for spice and a bit of cheeky cheddar for tang. Whilst both have their own style, the winner here is the buttery honeyed topping. Slatered warm with salted butter this makes the perfect accompaniment to a hot bowl of soured cream drizzled chilli or simply a bucket of homemade fresh guacamole as I did here.
Having not yet tried Shotgun BBQ it will be my next fit spot…
I used a mini retro loaf tin to create these cute mini loaves perfect for individual portions. However I would also recommend using small loaf tin, one large one, or failing that a muffin tin! This recipe would make about 8 small muffins I think. But feel free to use any tin available – the depth will just mean the cooking tin will vary but if you stick to 25 minutes or so first starters and a knife inserted into the centre is clean then voila!
Ingredients
- 150g plain flour
- 150g polenta/cornmeal
- 25g soft light brown sugar
- 4g baking powder
- Large pinch salt
- 225ml milk
- 2 large eggs
- 20g butter, melted
- 30g lard
- 50g unsalted butter & 50g runny honey
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and place a small knob of lard in each tin
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl
- Add the wet and mix well to combine
- Spoon into the muffin tins/loaf tin (allowing room for rise)
- Bake for about 25 minutes until golden. A knife inserted into the middle should come out clean
- While they are baking, combine the honey and butter for the topping in a saucepan and melt to combine
- When the loaves are ready baste in the hot honey butter and then return to the oven for a few minutes
- After this time, remove from the oven and serve immediately, hot and buttery!
I served mine with guacamole – see here but a chilli would also go down a treat.