And my corn craving continues.

This time I reached out to a friend of mine from Mexico, because I remember this great corn bread I had when I use to visit there for work. I remember buying them from the street vendors. Pile high with a handmade sign on top announcing it “hecho en casa” (homemade) After describing to her that wonderful sweet morsel I had, she told me simply, “mija, esta hablando de un simple pan de elote” (girl, you are talking about a simple corn bread). The she sent me the recipe and told me to enjoy it.

Pan de elote literally means “corn bread,” and it’s one of those iconic Mexican desserts I can’t get enough of.

This is not like American cornbread at all. When it’s done right, it’s like the freshest homemade creamed corn crossed with a flan or bread pudding. It’s not so much a bread as a dense, buttery cake-pudding – delish!

I easy to make, since everything pretty much can go into a blender or food processor – add, mix and pour over a prepare cake pan and in less than 1 hour you got this warm sweet treat, that you just want to bury your face in.

While the flavor was perfect, it did not come out as dense as I would have liked or remember eating in the streets of Mexico City. I knew something had gone wrong, so I reached out to the friend about it and she mention that corn here in the States is juicier (meaning more liquid) than the one they have in Mexico, which means that the batter was going to be a lot runnier. She suggested that next time I either let the corn dry out a bit over the counter for a few days to get a denser texture or reduce the liquids - 4 eggs instead of the original 5 and maybe add a bit more flour, from 3 tablespoons to maybe 4 to balance it out. I’m taking a gamble and giving you the recipe with those adjustments.

And another side note: don’t let the whole can of sweetened condense milk scare you, the end results are the perfect balance of sweet. Plus, hello there is nothing in this world that condense milk (ok, Nutella is a given).

PAN DE ELOTE – CORN BREAD

5 ears of corn, shucked (about 4 cups kernels)
4 big tablespoons or rice flour (you can also use regular flour too)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condense milk
⅓ cup cream cheese (or you can use crema)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour at 9-inch cake pan.

Remove the husks and the silk from the corn and cut the kernels off as close to the husk as possible without removing any of the husk. You should have about 4-5 cups of kernels. (Its ok if you are under or a bit over)

Sift together the flour and the baking powder and put aside. In a blender or food processor, put the eggs, condensed milk, cream cheese (or crema), butter and vanilla and mix to combine.

Add the flour mixture and the corn kernels and blend until well incorporated – the mixture will not be smooth, but a bit chunky and that is ok. If it s a bit runny its also ok.

Pour batter on grease pan and place in oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (start to check it at the 45-50 minute mark) Allow it to cool off for 20 minutes and invert to serving plate. Cut into slices and enjoy.

This is good alone like a snack or as a side to any hearty entre, like ribs or stew. Its algo good warm or even cold! Tom and I been eating right off the fridge.