The Three Sisters: Corn

Cornbread with homemade butter by Fran W.

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
• Place a 9″ pan or cast iron skillet in the oven for 5 minutes, when you remove it, coat the pan, including the sides, with 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
• Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, buttermilk and the egg into a blender and turn it on high speed until all the ingredients are mixed well – about 20-30 seconds.
• Place all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the creamed corn and the contents of the blender into the well. Stir until smooth and then pour the batter into the prepared pan or skillet.
• Bake cornbread in the center of a 450 degree oven for 30 – 35 minutes or until the cornbread turns golden brown and a toothpick, inserted in the center, comes out clean. Allow cornbread to stand for 15 minutes before serving with freshly made butter. Refrigerate unused cornbread.

Add 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, a dash of salt and a clean marble to a clean plastic container. Put a tight fitting lid on the container and shake vigorously until the heavy cream separates and a ball of butter is formed. This can take 5 minutes or more, but don’t stop once you begin. Pour off the liquid (called buttermilk) that separates from butter solids, remove the marble, knead the ball with a spoon to remove more of the buttermilk and enjoy your homemade butter on warm cornbread right away.

Tip: If you like sweeter butter, make homemade honey butter by mixing a teaspoon or two of honey into your fresh butter. A dash of cinnamon can be added too!

Note: Retain the buttermilk and use it in another baked item or drink it.
Do not try to store the butter for more than a day or two using this process, if you would like to keep homemade butter longer, check out these directions to learn how.