Kulche Jawari (Afghan Corn Cake)

The recipe is from Afghan Desserts Made Simple, by Sina Abed. Inspired by @mamas._best_ 's recent post on Instagram, of Jawari (Corn Cake), I just had to make one. This seemed like a good, simple recipe, so I decided to try it.

I made only half a recipe, in a glass 9.5-inch round deep pie dish. I used masa harina (Latin American corn flour) instead of cornmeal, and added a pinch of salt, as well as a little extra milk. It took a while for the cake to start to rise, but it did bake in the 40 minutes the recipe said it would take.

The result was ... Yummy! The cake was light and flaky, and reminded me of Sfouf, a Lebanese cake with saffron. Next time, I might add a little saffron!

@mamas._best_ Instagram, 2 February 2018, [Jawari Corn Cake]

Date-Molasses Cornbread

This was based on the Molasses Cornbread from the website Can'tStayOutoftheKitchen. I used masa harina (Latin American corn flour for tortillas, etc.) instead of cornmeal, whole-milk yogurt instead of buttermilk and sour cream, and coconut oil instead of butter. Date syrup/molasses stood in for regular molasses, as well, and just a small amount (as I'd never used it before in baking). Here the cornbread is pictured topped with honey. Outstanding recipe! And very simple to make.

CantStayOutoftheKitchen Facebook

CantStayOutoftheKitchen Website, Molasses Cornbread

Not-Quite-Sour-Cream Cornbread 

(with some honey)

This is based on the Sour Cream Corn Muffin recipe in Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking. Instead of sour cream, I used an equal amount of whey (liquid) leftover from making paneer (Indian cheese).

As I'd used up all the stone-ground yellow cornmeal, I decided to try Masa Harina, instead. It's Latin American corn flour that's specially meant for tortillas, pupusas, and empanadas. It worked just fine here, combined with the all-purpose flour also specified in the recipe.

Lastly, instead of 12 muffins, I just poured the batter into an 8x8 pan, for a cornbread that I cut into 12 pieces. The result was a light, somewhat sweet, cornbread, that I've been enjoying the last few days. Finally, I managed to get a good photo with my camera before it was all gone!