“Cornbread? I LOVE cornbread!” For six years, that’s the response James Beard Award-winning author Crescent Dragonwagon got when people asked her what she was writing about. Over time, she came to understand: Not only is hot, just baked cornbread delicious, it evokes—powerfully—the heart, soul, and taste of home. The following recipe, excerpted from her cookbook The Cornbread Gospels, exemplifies true, traditional Southern-style cornbread.
Check out Crescent Dragonwagon’s video demonstrating Truman Capote’s Family’s Cornbread here.
Truman Capote’s Family’s Cornbread
Makes 8 wedges
“Everything about this straight-up cornbread—not sweet, not fancy but for its two eggs—points to it being an early creation, not far from sustenance. For that, maybe because of that, it has a purity that is hard to beat, as well as a winning, light texture. This is adapted from the recipe of Sook Faulk, who gave it, and other family recipes, to her niece Marie Rudisill (Truman Capote’s aunt) in 1946, with ‘the understanding that [she] would share them with Truman Capote, [her] sister’s child, who had been brought up in Sook’s hometown, Monroeville, Alabama.'”
- 1 tablespoon butter or bacon drippings
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the butter or drippings in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, and place it in the oven.
2. Combine the eggs and buttermilk in a small bowl or measuring cup, whisking together well with a fork.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, salt, baking soda, and cornmeal, stirring well to combine.
4. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, beating just until the dry ingredients are moistened, no more.
5. Pull the skillet from the oven. It should be good and hot, with the fat sizzling. Swirl the pan to coat it. Quickly transfer the batter to the hot skillet and return the skillet to the oven.
6. Bake until browned and pulling away from the skillet, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve, hot, in wedges from the pan.
From Crescent Dragonwagon, here’s an impassioned celebration of all things cornbread. With over 200 recipes that evoke the heart, soul, and taste of home, it includes sweet cornbreads and savory cornbreads, fritters, spoonbreads, pancakes, and more.
