Kosher Blog

Pareve Cornbread Showdown

It was fortuitous to the point of eerie that the January-February issue of Cook’s Illustrated contained an article entitled “Rethinking Cornbread,” in which they created an ideal compromise between southern skillet cornbread and cakey northern cornbread. I figured this would be an appropriate springboard for my experimentation in the realm of pareve cornbread.

My strategy was simple: make the recipe as written, with dairy ingredients, and then compare it directly to a a non-dairy recipe I’d develop to match… and keep it moist. It would be easy to swap margarine (Fleishmann’s Light Unsalted) for the butter, but the challenge remained in replacing the full cup of buttermilk. I reached for my trusty soy milk, but it lacked buttermilk’s tang. I thought about adding a kick of extra acid — vinegar? No, lemon juice. And a bit of honey to add some extra sweetness and depth.

The dairy product was full of corn flavor, had a nice, slightly crunchy crust, and remained moist (enough) even after cooling completely. An encouraging foundation.

My pareve product maintained the crunch and the corn flavor, but I could certainly detect an undercurrent of earthy soy. Also, the soy made the batter and resultant cornbread a shade or two darker. Otherwise, the soy switch stood up to the dairy original. If I were to make another attempt, I’d consider using half soy milk and half non-dairy creamer, retaining the lemon juice for tang.

But is it moist enough? Well, judge for yourself. I’d say it’s equivalent to Cook’s Illustrated’s tried-and-true cornbread, so that ought to count for something!

BEST (SO FAR) PAREVE CORNBREAD
1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup soy milk
3 teaspoons lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1 teaspoon honey
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons unsalted pareve margarine, melted and cooled slightly

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray glass baking dish (8×8 or 11×7) with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until combined; set aside.
In food processor or blender, process brown sugar, thawed corn kernels, soymilk, lemon juice, and honey until combined, about five seconds. Add eggs and process until well combined (corn lumps will remain), about 5 seconds longer.
Using rubber spatula, make well in center of dry ingredients; pour wet ingredients into well. Begin folding dry ingredients into wet, giving mixture only a few turns to barely combine; add melted margarine and continue folding until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into prepared baking dish; smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes, invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.