Honey Cornbread

GF NF

Makes about 20 pieces

For the past few years, some friends have invited us to join in their gluten free Thanksgiving celebration. The date is chosen to replicate the season of actual Thanksgiving and it is a cosy and delicious afternoon and evening. We all have our dishes that we make and I particularly appreciate being able to eat everything and always end up eating too much. Over the last few years, I have trialled various gluten free bread/carb dishes as one of my contributions. None had ever been a repeatable winner until this year when the host suggested I try making cornbread and then later texted a quick line suggesting I add honey to it. I thought she meant honey through it rather than on it and ended up coming up with this – GF cornbread with a sweet layer of honey through the middle. Our carb option for future Thanksgivings has been finalised!

What you need:

340 grams of instant/quick cooking polenta

240 grams of gluten free flour (I’ve had best results with Edmonds Gluten Free Plain Flour)

1 tablespoon of baking powder (check gluten free)

1 teaspoon of salt

220 grams of butter, melted

4 eggs

500 mls of milk

75 grams of honey (or more for a bigger honey layer)

What to do:

1. Turn the oven on to 180°C to preheat and line a baking pan with greaseproof paper. I used a pan that measured 22cm x 22 cm and about 7 cm deep.

2. Mix together in a large bowl the polenta, the flour, the baking powder and the salt.

3. Add the milk to the melted butter (this helps to cool it down if it is still hot) and then add the melted butter, milk and eggs to the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix everything together well to make a thick batter with a similar consistency to sponge cake batter (it will look coarse because of the polenta). I found my batter was quite thick with different flour brands, so you may need to add extra milk if your batter is thick and stiff instead of easily spoonable.

4. Heat the honey slightly over a medium heat until it is just runny enough to pour, like a thick sauce. If the outside edges have melted well, remove it from the heat and the stir it all together so it is all pourable.

5. While the honey is heating, spread about half the cornbread batter evenly across the bottom of the lined baking pan.

6. Drizzle the honey evenly across the top of the batter in the pan.

7. Cover the honey layer in the pan with the remaining cornbread batter. I found it best to do this by dolloping spoonfuls of the batter across the honey layer and then spreading it out in an even layer. Smooth the top of the batter with a spatula or back of a spoon.

8. Bake the cornbread in the middle of the preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until golden brown on top and baked through.

9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly on a cooling rack before serving. Cut into pieces (I cut mine into about 20 pieces) and serve while still warm.