All the pretty flours: Corn

Blueberry Cornmuffins

Cornmeal.  For Engineered Cupcake it just might be the 2nd most used flour, often in gluten free goodies like our Lemon blueberry corn-muffins, which are honestly the best blueberry muffins I've ever had in life.and the fact that this belle occasionally just has to have some cornbread in her life. I
make a corn muffin that in the words of one Southerner: "will make you believe in the Good Lord" I love Southern talk. With all the corn meals and flours there are 3 distinctions: whole grain or degerminated: most cornmeal is degerminated but if it's whole grain it's best to store it in the fridge so the oils don't go rancid. grind: how coarse the grind is and Nixtamalization. Big word ne? It basically means the grain (in this case corn) has been
soaked in an alkaline solution and hulled. This makes it easier to grind, the flavour is improved, and absorbable nutritional value increased. It's a key part of tortilla making. Closer to my own culture, grits are a nixtamilized corn product.


You'll notice that many "cornbread" recipes have about a 5:1 ratio of flour:cornmeal recipe. But because it's more dense and has such a strong flavor it's soundly a cornmuffin.

Cornstarch (Cornflour in the UK) The exception is in British and Australian recipes where the term "cornflour" is used synonymously with the U.S. word cornstarch.Cornstarch is the starch derived from the corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the corn kernel. Corn starch is a popular food ingredient used in thickening sauces or soups, gluten free baking. It's also the anti-caking agent for powdered sugar. In fact you can make your own icing sugar by taking regular sugar about 1 cup and adding 1tbsp of cornstarch. Yes, this is the same starch you can use for your clothes. Personally I use 1/2 cup to 1 quart for my button down shirts and bow ties

American Cornflour A powdery flour made of finely ground cornmeal, NOT to be confused with cornstarch. Corn flour comes in yellow and white and is used for breading and in combination with other flours in baked goods. Corn flour is milled from the whole kernel, while cornstarch is obtained from the endosperm portion of the kernel. Masa Harina is a special corn flour that is the basic ingredient for corn tortillas. White corn flour blends well with other food ingredients and can be blended with wheat flour to reduce gluten for cakes, cookies, pastries and crackers. White corn flour is used as a filler, binder and thickener in cookie, pastry and meat industries.


Cornmeal: not as fine as American cornflour this is what I use in my cornmuffin recipes. Pay attention though as "cornbread mix" is not pure cornmeal but has wheat flour, sugars, etc.

Coarse ground cornmeal: Used for topping muffins, preventing pizzas from sticking. It's a bit too coarse to be the main attraction in most baked goods but it adds a nice textural contrast.


Later this week I'll post one of my favourite cornmeal scone recipes.