Tasha Tudor's Cornbread

A few weeks ago I was making my homemade chili and I thought it really deserves homemade cornbread. So I tried a Joy of Cooking recipe and it was awful! So I turned to my dad's cornbread recipe. He always made the best cornbread. It is from a beautifully illustrated cookbook by Tasha Tudor. It didn't disappoint. Cornbread just doesn't get better than this. I recommend using an iron skillet or my personal pick, this Scone Pan to get a nice crust on the outside of the cornbread.

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 farm-fresh eggs, at room temperature, separated
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk, lukewarm
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an iron cornbread pan that makes 12 sticks, or a muffin tin, with peanut oil.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar and add the egg yolks, slightly beaten. Stir well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt, then add it alternately with the milk to the creamed butter. Stir in the cornmeal, then fold in the beaten egg whites.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until beautifully browned.