ain't nothing wrong with that

Well, finally.

For a while now I've wanted to come up with what I'd been calling a "cornbread brownie" but should really call a "cornmeal blondie."  The idea is, take sweet cornbread and make it as sweet and fudgy as fudge brownies (I'm not a big fan of cakey brownies) -- but without the chocolate.

You could also think of it as a cakey version of chess pie, which I guess I haven't made in this blog yet, but I will.  Chess pie tends to be something I make in between sour-citrus season and fresh-fruit season -- February through June.

Now, my recipe won't help you much, though it has occurred to me that the cocoa butter may not be as necessary to the texture as I've been assuming, which would be funny.  I have cocoa butter in the house partly just to play with, and partly to make chocolate-like things without chocolate (that is, without the cocoa solids that contribute the bulk of chocolate's flavor -- cocoa butter does retain some faint, subtle notes if it isn't deodorized).  But for all I know ... the butter and eggs alone may be enough to make this fudgy.

You don't need the corn whiskey; what it adds is barely noticeable.  Do not substitute vanilla instead, though -- you don't want flavors to crowd the corn here.  If you really think you need some other flavor, serve it alongside, in the form of a sauce, ice cream, fresh fruit, whatever.

Cornmeal blondies/cornbread brownies:

Melt 6 tablespoons butter and 2 ounces cocoa butter in a pan and let cool slightly.  Beat 2 eggs and beat butter/cocoa butter into them.  Add 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 Tablespoon corn whiskey.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.