Note: This recipe is part of a year-end series of classic Acquired Tastes from the C-VILLE archives. This one first ran in 2004.
Easy to overlook in the Gleason’s building on Garrett Street, Baker’s Palette stands ready to satisfy cravings from the sweet and flaky to the hot and frothy. Open Saturdays and Mondays from 9am to 3pm and Tuesdays through Fridays from 9am to 5pm, the Palette has breakfast pastries and sandwiches, lattés and cappuccinos, as well as a full line of sandwiches for the lunch crowd and homemade hot chocolate to warm up those brisk mornings.
A longtime customer favorite is the Palette’s fresh-baked cornbread, the recipe for which co-owner Tom Cervelloni has graciously chosen to share with our readers. It’s delicious and a little unexpected for holiday shindigs.
Baker’s Palette’s Cornbread
4 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. sugar
1 stick softened unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups yellow corn meal
4 Tbs. baking powder
6 eggs
1 qt. buttermilk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup corn kernels (frozen is O.K.)
1/2 cup chopped green chiles (canned will work fine)
Cream butter, sugar and salt. Add eggs one at a time until mixed in. Mix together flour, corn meal and baking powder. Combine the two mixtures, alternating with buttermilk, starting with the dry ingredients. Stir in corn, cheese and chiles. Pour batter into hot cast iron pans sprayed with pan coating and bake at 350° until center springs back when touched lightly. Baking note: Cervelloni says, "A cake pan will work, but cast iron works best—just don’t overfill the pan, as it will be raw in the center."