My family is not Southern enough to make cornbread. Instead, we make cornbake, a spoon-bread marriage of cornbread and corn pudding. This recipe has been handed every which way in my family (there are at least two copies in every household’s recipe Rolodex). It is the recipe I most often hand off to others. And it is implied with any invitation that I bring it as a side dish to any and all potlucks.

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The old gals in my family make this recipe with more “supermarket” origins and will shout out the recipe when writing a shopping list (1 box Jiffy! 2 eggs! 1 tub sour cream! 2 cans corn! 2 sticks butter!). As much as I love that corn-bake, these days I prefer cornbake made from scratch. This “from scratch” version is so good it has even fooled the old gals in a blind taste test.

 

softened butter for the pan

11⁄3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream

1 (14.75-ounce) can creamed corn

1 cup fresh, frozen, or drained canned corn kernels

1⁄2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1⁄4 cup honey

2 tablespoons whole milk

1⁄2 teaspoon white vinegar

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1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 10-inch round cake pan or a 9-inch baking pan.

2. Stir together the flour, cornmeal, both sugars, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pepper in a large bowl.

3. Whisk together the sour cream, creamed corn, corn kernels, butter, eggs, honey, milk, and vinegar in another bowl. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about

5. 30 minutes in a skillet and 45 minutes in a baking pan. Let cool slightly in the pan before serving.