Sweet Fresh Corn Cupcakes

It's been a long time since I've posted, because of reasons I won't get into, I have been feeling very un-inspired. Until now. And all apologies for the lack of photo - my camera got destroyed on a recent cliff-jumping adventure. Ahem.

There's nothing better than sweet corn-on-the-cob, fresh from the farm! I've created my own recipe on what to do with a bumper crop of fresh (and uncooked) ears of corn. This would work with frozen corn kernels, I assume, but it would certainly be less delicious.

These little beauties are very sweet, just the way I like my cakes. They are relatively one-dimensional in flavour, and would be best served with an accompaniment. These would taste great with some of your favourite spices added to taste, or topped with whipped cream and seasonal fruit or berries shortcake-style. 


1 3/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar (this can be reduced according to taste)
1/3 c. butter, cold
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. fresh corn kernels, cut off the cob


Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners.

In your food processor, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter in pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add the corn kernels and pulse until combined. Whisk together the buttermilk and eggs. Add the mixture from the food processor into the milk mixture and stir to combine. Dole out about 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until browned and a toothpick poked into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean.

Enjoy! Yields 12 - 15 cupcakes.

Cornbread

This one's an old favourite. Like biscuits, cornbread makes an excellent accompaniment, or is great as a snack just warmed up with butter. This recipe is easy to vegan-ify, and tastes exactly the same. My cornbread is moist, tender, slightly sweet, and very fluffy! Vegan verson in (brackets). Adapted from Molly Katzen's Moosewood Cookbook.

1 c. corn meal
1 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk or yogourt (soymilk + 1 Tbsp. vinegar)
1 egg (1 portion egg substitute)
1/4 c. white sugar (Redpath sugar)
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan with butter, margarine, or spray oil. I usually grease a muffin tin for portion-sized cornbreads. Combine dry ingredients together. Whisk wet ingredients together in a separate bowl or ewer. Add wet to dry, stir just until combined, and fill loaf pan or muffin tin. Bake for about 12 minutes for muffins, or 20 minutes or longer for loaf. Remove from the oven when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.