Corn Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the corn flour, baking powder, salt and chile powder with a whisk until everything is evenly distributed.
2. Warm the butter, milk and honey together in a small saucepan, just until the butter has melted. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool to tepid, then open up a space in the dry ingredients and add the warm milk mixture along with the 2 egg yolks, the corn and the chopped chile, if you’re using it. Mix until the batter comes together.
3. Using a clean, dry bowl, whip the 3 egg whites until they are firm enough to stand up and keep their shape. Gently fold them through the corn batter until fully incorporated.
4. Melt some butter in a skillet. Once the pan is hot, drop in scoops of batter with room between them, fitting in only as many as the skillet can handle comfortably. A spring-loaded ice cream scoop that holds about 1/4 cup, 60ml, of batter works nicely, though a large spoon is fine too. If the scoops sit too tall, press them down just a bit.
5. Cook the corn cakes until the undersides are browned and small bubbles begin showing up at the edges. Turn them with a spatula, then cook the second side for about a minute, until it is lightly browned.