It's all about taste. Good taste and bad taste.
You want the good first? This recipe for sweet potato cornbread. It rocks. Seriously. The bad? Yesterday we decided to go to the movies with Joey and Will (those two totally fab rockin' guacamole styling hunks). We chose The Departed
, Scorsese's new flick (it's been garnering rave reviews); and met at the theater.Well, Babycakes, in all gut wrenching honesty (I won’t speak for the three men who apparently liked it more than I did) I could barely sit through it. I felt as if I was being beat up. Run over by a Zamboni. I mean how much misogyny and homophobia and execution-style murders can a tenderhearted sensory sensitive girl like me take?
Not this much it turns out.
After a soul-numbing Boston gangster movie like this, there’s nothing better to ground you than an autumn flavored bean soup and fresh warm cornbread (well, that, and an ice-cold vodka martini poured by your sweet husband). So the four of us retreated to the cozy Allrich casita and decompressed. Then we ate and talked movie talk until the post-traumatic tension had dissipated and the night regained its charm.
Sweet Potato Cornbread Recipe
I felt inspired to try a cornbread made with sweet potato. Don't ask me why. Because I don't know. I just did. And it turned out to be the tastiest cornbread yet, with a lovely, tender crumb. And not a speck of gluten in sight. Put this on your To Bake List. You won't be sorry.
Ingredients:
3 large organic free-range eggs
3 large organic free-range eggs
1/2 cup extra light olive oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup sweet potato puree
3/4 cup organic light brown sugar
, packed
, packed1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free stone ground cornmeal 
1 cup Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix
- (or your own flour mix with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and a good pinch of sea salt added)
- (or your own flour mix with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and a good pinch of sea salt added)1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon GF Pumpkin Pie Spice blend
Sea salt, to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the bottom of a 8-inch cake pan and dust it with cornmeal. I used a Springform pan
.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the bottom of a 8-inch cake pan and dust it with cornmeal. I used a Springform pan
.In a large mixing bowl
, whisk the eggs until foamy; add the oil; whisk again to combine. Add in the sweet potato puree and mix well. Add the light brown sugar, and bourbon vanilla extract, and mix to combine.
, whisk the eggs until foamy; add the oil; whisk again to combine. Add in the sweet potato puree and mix well. Add the light brown sugar, and bourbon vanilla extract, and mix to combine.In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: cornmeal, gluten-free flour mix, baking powder, cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie Spice blend, and sea salt.
Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon
, add the dry ingredients into the wet; and stir by hand just enough to make a smooth batter.
, add the dry ingredients into the wet; and stir by hand just enough to make a smooth batter.Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake on a center rack in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or so, until the cornbread is firm to the touch and golden. Check with a wooden pick, if necessary; if it emerges clean, the cornbread is done. [Remember, Dear Reader, I bake at high altitude, so please use your own tried-and-true guidelines for baking times.]
Cool the cornbread in the pan- on a wire rack- for ten minutes. Remove from the pan and continue to cool.
Serve slightly warm with a dab of your favorite butter or buttery spread.
Options:
Wrap and freeze leftover slices. Or grill leftover slices in a little light olive oil. Scrumptious.
Makes 8 servings.