Morning peeps!
Guess what? It’s Thursday and that can only mean one thing…. it means that tomorrow is Friday and I think that deserves a hell yeah! Can I get a woop woop?!
Clearly I am a little (a lot) excited for the weekend, which isn’t exactly a new experience – I am always excited for the weekend. But this weekend I am extra excited – mostly because this Saturday we are headed out to Delta to check out the the Deja Vu Vintage Market, which in other words is basically my heaven. I love vintage markets and will definitely be looking to Cole for restraint so as to not let me purchase literally everything I come across that is vintage & kitchen related.
Not to mention after the vintage market we will be heading for Vancouver to have a little browse around the West Elm stores & Pottery Barn… So basically we are just doing a shopping day for ALL THE THINGS that are house & home furniture related. My favourite kind of Saturday 😀 What kind of fun things are you getting up to this weekend?
This week we don’t have a farmers market on Saturday (hence allllll the shopping,) so I had a little bit of free time on my hands this week. Now I know what all of you practical thinkers out there are thinking. You are probably thinking that I should have used this very limited amount of free time to catch up on other such tasks that my schedule hasn’t allowed me to do in the last couple of months. Like say… dealing with my overflowing laundry basket…. or catching up on the seemingly hundreds of TV show recordings that are clogging up my PVR at the moment …. or cleaning my car (which has not been a pretty sight lately)… or weeding my garden, (which has taken on a life of its own with all of this sun and basically looks like something out of the jungles of Jurassic Park right now.)
Yes, these are all things that I really should be doing with the extra couple of hours I have to spare this week… I really should have done them…. but instead I baked tasty treats. Are you surprised? I didn’t think so. But hey before you judge – you should know that I this baking was done in order to test out new items to sell at upcoming markets…. so if you really think about it, I was technically working. Yeah… working.
Is it really awful of me to be consciously avoiding all of my household chores by cooking and baking instead? Probably. Actually scratch that probably – I know it’s bad of me, but I just can’t help myself. For me, free time = playing in the kitchen time. Are we on the same page here or are you silently judging me for letting the weeds in my garden run wild? It’s okay – I promise I will get to the weeds………. someday…
But for now it’s cornbread baking time baby! Mmm, mmmmm. I love me some cornbread (insert southern accent here.) I don’t know why, but whenever I say cornbread I feel like I have to do it with a southern accent – it just happens uncontrollably whenever I say it. Is this just strange or a little bit amazing? I’ll let you be the judge.
This cornbread recipe is my go-to recipe for cornbread for one simple reason – it is killer. The cornbread itself is super flavourful because of the combination of the brown sugar, honey and cornmeal, and it is so, so moist on the inside with amazing golden brown, and crunchy crust on the outside. Seriously, that crunchy cornbread crust that comes from cooking at a high temperature while using a heavily buttered cast iron pan….. I am at a loss for words.
Oh and did I mention I added some blackberries into the mix, which ended up adding the most amazing sweet and tangy twist to this classic recipe ? Well I did and let me be the first to tell you that the result was a-ma-zing. Such a fun option for a summer dessert or breakfast or snack… or really you can eat this at any damn time of the day you want because it is so tasty! Are you drooling yet? Because I think I am.
Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy!
Blackberry Cornbread
Makes: 1 x 9 inch cast iron skillet (about 9 slices)
Things you need…
1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 cup fresh blackberries (or raspberries or blueberries)
How to make…
Melt your butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave; set aside to cool slightly.
Toss your fresh blackberries (or whichever fresh berry you want) with the 1 tbsp of flour to coat; set aside until ready to use.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9 inch cast iron skillet with butter and place in the oven to warm while it pre-heats.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar until combined and there are no lumps. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients & set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, honey, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix in cooled melted butter until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until they start to come together. Add in blackberries and stir gently to just combine – try to avoid over-mixing.
Remove warm cast iron skillet from the oven and pour the batter into the skillet. Sprinkle the top of the cornbread with some additional cornmeal & coarse sugar.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cornbread is a nice golden brown on top and around the edges.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before slicing.
Serve on its own, or with a drizzle of honey or do it up like we did in my house and serve it with some fresh whipped cream… mmm, mmmmm.
You don’t even have top break out the mixer for this one – it is such a simple recipe, and yet it produces such a delicious result! You can make this recipe with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries or basically any berry that your little heart desires and it will be delicious. Or if you aren’t feeling the berries, you could substitute a savoury addition… like, what say you to a little bacon in your cornbread? Uhhh yeah – that sounds delicious. OR if you are feeling like you just want a big ol’ slice of a great classic cornbread, you can omit the berries / lemon zest altogether and just serve it up as is, and it will be just as delicious even without the berries.
One thing that I will say, is that I get the most delicious cornbread results when I bake it in a hot cast iron pan. You don’t have to do this if you don’t have one on hand, but I do recommend it if you can. Because it is that hot cast iron pan that is going to give you those amazing golden and crunchy edges on your cornbread that are oh so addicting.
I love cornbread. Plain, or jazzed up with some berries or a savoury kick… it’s just plain amazing. This is definitely a recipe to try over the weekend. And, if you are living in the Vancouver area and are looking for a fun Saturday activity I suggest you check out this vintage market – it’s going to be so much fun! But if you already have plans or you can’t make it, don’t worry – I will be sure to post any amazing finds from my Vintage Market excursions on my next post 😀
Have a great weekend everybody!
Happy Baking & Shopping 😀
KP xoxo
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