Corn pone is a cross between a pudding, a cake and a bread – originally it was a thin cake baked on a heated stone or in a cast-iron skillet. There are many variations of corn pone throughout the south of the USA. Such dishes are eaten as bread alongside meat or, just as often, as a sweet pudding. I like it toasted and buttered as an alternative to a scone (or ‘biscuit’ in US parlance).
Ingredients
600 g sweet potatoes, boiled and mashed
80 g unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅔ cup plain yoghurt
1⅓ cups fine polenta
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C and butter a 20 cm square cake tin. Purée sweet potato in a food processor with all ingredients except yoghurt and polenta. Stir in yoghurt and polenta and pour into prepared tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool a little before turning out and cutting into squares.
