Recipe: Yankee Spider Corn Bread with Custard Layer

YANKEE SPIDER CORN BREAD WITH CUSTARD LAYER

1/3 cup unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups milk, divided use
2 to 3 tablespoons butter (or mild vegetable oil)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 10-inch cast-iron skillet with oil and set aside.

Sift together dry ingredients into medium bowl; set aside.

Break eggs into second medium bowl and whisk well. Whisk in buttermilk and 1 cup of milk. Set aside.

Place oil in skillet and heat on top of stove over medium heat. As oil heats, quickly stir wet ingredients into dry, using as few strokes as possible to combine them. (The batter is wetter than most corn breads. Do not overbeat.)

Pour a little hot oil from skillet into batter, give a stir or two, pour batter into prepared hot skillet. Pour remaining 1 cup milk over batter without stirring it in.

Bake in oven until golden brown around edges, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Bread will seem wetter than most corn breads, but if you stick a toothpick in center, it should come out clean. Before cutting, let cool in pan for 20 minutes so custard can set up.

Source: The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon