For all those who enjoyed Tim’s previous Blog post, here is his recipe to try for yourselves!
Ingredients
2 cups/680 g coarse ground yellow cornmeal, plus more for pan
2 tsp/12 g baking soda*
1 tsp/6 g kosher salt
1.5 cups/355 ml buttermilk
4 tble/56 g butter, melted and cooled
¼ cup/125 ml maple syrup
1 large egg, room temperature
½ cup/170 g dried cranberries
¼ cup/125 ml maple-infused whiskey (or drink of choice)
Method
Preheat oven to 375 F or 190 C (gas mark 5?). Prepare baking tins or pan by buttering the sides and rolling the extra cornmeal around in it.
In small saucepan, add whiskey (or drink of choice) and bring to a bowl. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and stir in cranberries. Set aside 15 minutes or longer.
In large bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk gently to combine. In separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients except egg and mix. Separate egg, adding yolk to the bowl of wet ingredients and the white to its own clean bowl. Using a hand mixer or whatever tool pleases you, beat the egg white to stiff peaks.
After at least 15 minutes, strain out the cranberries and discard the liquor in a manner of your choosing. Set cranberries aside.
Combine wet ingredients over the dry and mix thoroughly. There is no gluten so you cannot overmix, but the acid in the buttermilk will begin triggering the baking soda and making bubbles. Work quickly.
Once combined, add in the cranberries and mix thoroughly. Finally, add in the egg whites and gently fold the mixture until only traces of egg white remain.
Pour into prepared tins or pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes before turning over and letting finish cooling on cooling rack.
*Using baking soda will provide a bit of leavening, which traditional Bannock do not have. However, most heirloom types of corn, like the Northstine Dent I used, require a process called ‘nixtamalization’ to get the most out of the grain. This was traditionally done with a lime and water mixture, but baking soda is generally considered to be the safer modern equivalent for the home cook.
