Corn Cakes Recipe

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–+ servings

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Corn cakes on a platter arranged in a half circle around a bowl of guasacaca sauce, garnished with fresh cilantro.

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Venezuelan

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Keyword: corn cakes, guasacaca sauce

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 40

Servings:

Calories: 454kcal

This corn cakes recipe is gluten free and made with fresh corn sliced right off the cob!

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 tbsp corn meal
1 ½ cups fresh corn about 2 ears
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
3 tablespoon melted butter plus more butter for frying
dash hot sauce
1 small jalapeño
¼ cup cilantro

Instructions

Melt 3 tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan. Set aside to cool. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Finely dice the jalapeño. Chop the cilantro leaves and tender stems. Set both aside.
To cut the corn off the cob, place a clean, slightly damp dish towel on the counter. Stand the corn on its large end. Slice the corn off the cob starting with the end of the knife closest to your hand and let the knife fall down the corn cob toward the tip of the blade. This is much easier than trying to slice straight down with the middle of the blade.
Combine the cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a mixing bowl and whisk together until combined.
In another bowl, beat the eggs together, then add the buttermilk, cooled melted butter and a dash of hot sauce. Add the corn, cilantro, and jalapeño to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold together until everything is completely incorporated. Make sure there are no dry pockets.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Melt a pat of butter in the skillet, use a ¼ cup measuring cup to drop the batter into the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes, until you see bubbles coming through and the edges are starting to get golden brown. Use a very thin spatula to carefully flip them over. Cook for another minute or two on the other side until cooked through. Transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet while you cook the remaining corn cakes.
Transfer corn cakes to a serving plate and serve with a bowl of guasacaca sauce on the side.

Notes

Makes about 10-12 corn cakes.
Corn cakes adapted from Ina Garten. Guasacaca recipe by Yewande Komolafe via NYT Cooking.
Because these are made entirely of cornmeal, they are a bit delicate. Use the thinnest spatula that you have to flip them. I used my metal cookie spatula. They might not flip over perfectly, but that is okay. Just flatten them back out and get on with your life.
Make sure the cornmeal is fully incorporated. It has a tendency to hide little pockets of itself in the batter. Just use a spatula and fold gently until you're sure it's all mixed in.
If you like, you can set the oven on 200 degrees F, and place the parchment-lined a baking sheet in the oven to keep the cooked pancakes warm while you cook the rest.
If you happen to have clarified butter or ghee, you can use that to fry up the corn cakes to keep the butter from smoking as much. But I found that if you watch the heat and keep it more in the medium range they turn out perfectly golden without burning.
These are best eaten right away, but you can store them in the fridge for a couple of days if you have leftovers. Just put layers of parchment between them so they don't stick together, they may still crumble a bit.

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Nutrition