This is an old favorite from _The Tassajara Bread Book_ by Edward
Espe Brown. (This was my first bread cookbook, I bought mine in 1971.)
The first time I made this recipe it came out perfectly. Years went
by and the book (along with first wife) vanished in the mists of
time. I met Reggie, acquired a new copy of TBB and attempted to
recreate the magic three-layer cornbread. It didn't work. I've tried
again several times over the years and it's never worked - until
yesterday. I think I know the key - see my comments below the recipe.
There are three versions of _The Tassajara Bread Book_. I have the
first two. The original is copyright 1970, ISBN 0-87773-025-3 or
978-0-87773-025-5. The 2nd edition revisions are copyright 1986, ISBN
0-87773-343-0. The current version includes more revisions copyright
1995 and 2009, ISBN 978-1-59030-704-5. All are paperbacks. The older
versions are available used. Some of the recipes, including this one,
have been changed between the editions.
Here is the recipe and commentary from the first edition:
******
Three Layer Cornbread
Discovered quite by accident: one batter makes three layers. The corn
meal settles. The bran rises. In the middle an egg-custardy layer.
Easy! Glorious! Amazing!
One 9"x9" pan serves 4-6.
1 cup corn meal (coarse ground works best)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup honey or molasses (or up to 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup oil
3 cups milk or buttermilk
Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Mix together,
mixture will be quite watery. Pour into greased pan. Bake 50 min at
350F or until top is springy when gently touched.
******
The 2nd edition adds 1/4 cup wheat germ or wheat bran and doubles the
salt to 1 tsp and the eggs to 2. It also specifies the 9"x9" pan.
I used the original recipe, but used a 9"x7"x2.5" pan. I'm sure that
the key to getting the layers to separate is the proper grind of
cornmeal. I used "Corn Grits, also known as Polenta" from Bob's Red
Mill (SKU 1145C244).
Don't over-bake it. When it's done, it will still be quite bubbly in
the custard layer below the top. Mine was done in 50 minutes, but I
was scared of the bubbles and baked it 5 minutes longer, which made
the bottom tough.
Jeff