Aunt Marie's Cornbread

Add 

1/2 tsp. soda to

1 C. warmed to room temperature buttermilk and set aside.

Cream together:

1/2 C. (1 stick) room temperature butter and

2/3 C. sugar.   Add

2 eggs    one at a time and beat well, then slowly add buttermilk soda mixture alternately with the following dry ingredients:

1 C. cornmeal

1 C. flour (cake flour best)

1/2 tsp salt

Stir just until blended, do not over mix. Turn into greased baking pan, square 9 x 9 works well. Bake at 350 approx. 20 minutes.

cooking technique:

curdled batter

It is important to follow the directions exactly in order to create an emulsified batter that will result in smooth even textured and lighter cake.

Fat and liquid by nature are unblendable, and the goal when mixing a recipe is to form a water-in-fat emulsion. A well emulsified cake batter, for example, should not be curdled or weeping liquid. The butter and liquids should be blended into a stable emulsion.. If not stable, the batter will loose air cells. This results in a baked cake that is grainy or flat in texture, dry and flavorless, looks uneven and may even sink.

smooth emulsified batter

Emulsifying is done by slowly adding one ingredient to another while whisking rapidly. The whisking disperses and suspends one liquid throughout the other. A third ingredient, called a liaison or emulsifier, is added because the two ingredients will separate. The emulsifier stabilizes the mixture. When baking a cake, an emulsion typically begins with the butter, sugar and then eggs and continues while you add the dry ingredients and/or the cream, milk or buttermilk. The emulsion is more likely to be successful when the ingredients are at room  temperature. Otherwise, the ingredients will not combine as readily into a smooth batter or sometimes a previously created emulsion will break or curdle. Some recipes have liquid, like milk, added alternately with dry ingredients. This will aid the emulsification of the batter.