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Corn-Meal Muffins
1 cup corn-meal 1 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons baking-powder 1 cup milk 1 egg 2 tablespoons shortening Mix and sift the corn-meal, flour, salt and baking-powder. Add the milk gradually, then the well-beaten egg, and melted fat. Bake in well-greased muffin-pans in a hot oven (400 degrees-425 degrees F.).
A plain, unsweetened cornbread muffin of the kind that was meant to go on the dinner table beside a stew rather than at breakfast. The method is the standard muffin method, and the only things missing from the original are a baking time and a yield.
- TimingNo time is given. At 400-425F expect 18-22 minutes for standard muffin cups; they are done when the tops are set and springy and a skewer comes out dry.
- YieldThe batter makes about 12 muffins in a standard tin, or 8-9 in the larger cups common today. Fill each cup about two-thirds.
- CornmealFine or medium yellow or white meal both work. Modern degerminated supermarket meal tends to be drier than the stone-ground meal of the period; if the batter looks stiff, add a tablespoon or two more milk. Coarse polenta-grind will stay noticeably gritty; letting the batter stand 10 minutes softens it only a little.
- ShorteningHere shortening most likely means lard or a vegetable shortening. Melted butter or a neutral oil works as well; butter adds a flavour the original may not have had.
- Baking-powderFour teaspoons to two cups of dry ingredients is on the generous side by current practice. Three teaspoons of modern double-acting powder gives a good rise without the faint metallic edge.
- No sugarThere is none in the list, and unsweetened corn muffins of this type were common. If you want a sweeter Northern-style muffin, two tablespoons of sugar sifted in with the dry ingredients is a common amount.
- MixingStir only until the dry ingredients are damp. Overworking develops the wheat flour and gives tunnels and a tough crumb.
- PansGrease well and, better still, heat the greased tin in the oven for a few minutes before filling. The batter hitting hot fat sets the outside quickly and gives the crisp edge that makes these worth eating.