Hit the Road to…Cornbread Alley!

Where would you find such a delectable place? You might befuddle your GPS, but you’ll know to head to South Pittsburg, Tennessee in April for the National Cornbread Festival! For a small fee, you can pile your plate with several scrumptious varieties of cornbread! And that’s not all. There’s a cornbread cook off, music, a 5K run, shopping, and a carnival with a whole host of festival fare, from pork skins to kettle corn, funnel cakes to doughnut fries, and did we mention, lots and lots of cornbread! Do you suddenly crave cornbread? Try this tasty recipe from INSP Guest Blogger, Kate Wood.

Recipe by: Kate Wood
Makes One – 9” Skillet Cake

Ingredients

For the cornbread:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal mix

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs, room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

2 cups of blueberries

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

For the honey whipped cream:

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

To prepare the cornbread:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a 10″ cast iron skillet, melt the stick of butter over medium-low heat just until melted. Swirl butter in the pan to grease the sides and bottom and then set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, pour the butter and stir to combine with the honey. Add the eggs and buttermilk and whisk together to combine.
3. Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
4. Fold in half (1 cup) of blueberries and pour batter back into the skillet.
5. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the top of the batter and finally, sprinkle the brown sugar over the batter.
6. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out nearly clean with just a few moist crumbs.
7. Allow to cool slightly and serve with honey whipped cream.

To prepare the honey whipped cream:

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until most clumps are smoothed out, about one minute. Add the honey and sugar and beat to combine, about one minute.
2. Add about 1/4 of the cream and beat just slightly until the cream cheese mixture is thinned out, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining cream and beat until cream is whipped to stiff peaks. Avoid over-beating.

Notes:

1. Be sure you are using a 10″ skillet. This batter will bake out of the pan if you use one that is too small.
2. If your edges begin to brown too quickly before the center is becoming adequately baked through, tent the edges with a bit of aluminum foil to protect them from additional heat.
3. This cake will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature but is best eaten the day it is made.

About Kate

As a clinical dietician, Kate Wood knows food. In fact, she has a passion for food. As a self-taught baker, she loves experimenting with new recipes and flavors. She gets her inspiration from leafing through cookbooks, traveling and a desire for creating delicious delights from scratch with her own two hands. She believes in thank you notes, laughing at yourself, and the magic that happens when friends share good food and recipes.

She lives in LA (That’s Lower Alabama!) with her husband and two young children.

You can read more about Kate, explore other recipes, and sign up for her blog at The Wood and Spoon, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

*This recipe is not an actual representation of food the Walton family ate. It is an interpretation, an inspiration, based on the blogger’s knowledge of and connection to the The Waltons TV series.