Rich and Moist Cornbread

Caution: This is not your grandmother's cornbread.

Frozen corn kernels are actually sweeter and tastier than fresh ones because they're frozen within minutes of being picked. That's one of many secrets to our remarkably rich, moist corn bread. Sure, you'll find a lot of traditional ingredients here: Butter and heavy cream add richness, while cake flour and whole eggs build structure in the crumb that stone ground cornmeal alone couldn't. Baking powder for leavening will be obvious to seasoned bakers, but you may be surprised to find baking soda: It nurtures a golden brown crust and a deep, roasted corn aroma during baking.

Indeed, it's the unconventional ingredients that set our cornbread apart, like isomalt, a popular non-sweet sugar. In sweet baked goods, sugar normally helps tenderize and moisten the crumb, but replacing it with isomalt yields cornbread that's exceptionally tender and moist, but never cloying.

And the recipe itself is easy, but it's particularly important to avoid under- or over-baking the cornbread. Ovens vary a lot, unfortunately, and it's impossible to predict exactly how long our recipe will take to bake in your oven. But here's a tip that you can use whenever you bake: The easiest way to know when the crumb has set is to measure the core temperature with a digital thermometer. This little-known trick makes it easy to ensure your baked goods always come out perfect. For this recipe, aim for an internal temperature of 194 °F / 90 °C.

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