In this video, watch Chef John create a delicious Cornflake Corn Cake. This unique recipe combines the familiar comfort of cornbread with a surprising twist—the addition of cornflakes. Watch as Chef John takes us through the step-by-step process of making this deliciously crispy and flavorful cake. Prepare to tantalize your taste buds with the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors from the talented Chef John.
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00:00 Hello this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Corn Flake Corn Cake.
00:07 That's right we're using corn flakes to make a corn cake. Which by the way is
00:13 nothing more than a moister sweeter version of cornbread. In fact if you want
00:17 you could actually call this cornbread since a lot of people don't eat cake. And
00:22 trust me they're really gonna want to eat this. So we will do whatever it takes
00:26 since this really is amazing. And to get started what we'll do is take a
00:31 buttered cake pan and we will flip it over. And then we'll fold a piece of
00:35 parchment like a paper airplane. And we'll place the point in the center and
00:39 then we'll cut where it meets the edge. And I'm no geometry expert but I believe
00:45 that length is called the radius. But anyway if we cut it there and then
00:49 unfold it we should have a circle of parchment that fits the bottom
00:52 perfectly. Which we will simply then press into place. And that's it. That's
00:59 gonna help our cake come out nice and clean. Or at least that's the plan. And
01:03 once that's prepped we can move on to mix up this very simple batter. Which
01:07 starts by whisking some white sugar into one large egg. Which looks like two eggs
01:12 because it broke when I put it in. And what we'll do is give this a vigorous
01:15 whisking for about a minute or until the mixture looks kind of light and fluffy.
01:19 And normally when I'm doing something like this I'll have a plate or a trivet
01:23 next to me. So once I finish using a spoon or whisk I can set it down before
01:28 adding the next ingredient. And the reason I'm telling you this is because
01:32 you guys are after all the Jordan Pools of now losing control of your tools. And
01:36 speaking of disappointment, if you don't set it on a plate or trivet when you add
01:40 the melted butter it could fall out onto the floor and make a big mess. So yes
01:46 that was unfortunate. But I did clean up and regroup since we never let the food
01:51 win. And besides that melted butter we just added we will also add some plain
01:55 yogurt as well as some whole milk. And I know I do usually use buttermilk for
02:00 cornbreads and corn cakes. But everybody gets upset because they never know what
02:05 to do with the rest of the buttermilk. So since plain yogurt seems to be a lot
02:08 more common and easier to use up I decided to go with the yogurt milk combo.
02:12 And it really did work out beautifully. And then what we'll do is give this a
02:16 quick whisk until everything is combined. Before we finish this off with our dry
02:22 ingredients, the first of which would be some cornmeal. And either coarse like I'm
02:26 using here or medium grind will work. Okay I usually do use medium but I
02:31 didn't really notice much of a difference. And then we'll also want to
02:35 add some all-purpose flour, followed by a little bit of salt, some baking powder,
02:40 and then a little touch of its good friend baking soda. And then we'll grab
02:46 our whisk again and give this another mix, being careful not to knock everything
02:50 out of the bowl. And then once all that's been stirred together we will add the
02:55 last ingredient and star of the show, a couple cups of cornflakes. I know I can't
03:02 believe it either. But anyway we'll toss those in and then fold everything
03:06 together with a spatula. And to say the batter is gonna look strange is an
03:10 understatement. Alright it really is gonna have a bizarre appearance. But
03:15 somehow someway this bakes up into something absolutely gorgeous. And that's
03:20 it once everything's mixed and our batter is looking a little something
03:23 like this, we can transfer that into our cake pan. Which could if you want also be
03:28 a baking dish or that square pan you use for your brownies. Okay pretty much
03:33 anything with a similar volume will work. But anyway no matter what we're using
03:37 we'll go ahead and spread that evenly and smooth out the top. At which point
03:42 we'll scatter over about another half cup of our cornflakes, distributing those
03:47 as evenly as possible. And then once scattered we can use our fingertips to
03:51 do some fine-tuning. And we'll sort of ever so lightly press those into the
03:55 surface. And it's this final flaking that gives this corn cake its fabulous
04:00 show-stopping appearance. And it really does come out looking different than any
04:03 other cornbread or corn cake I've ever seen. And then once that's set we'll give
04:08 this the old tapa tapa to settle everything down. At which point it's
04:14 ready to transfer into the center of a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes or
04:20 until it looks like this. Oh yeah if you did not tell someone what this was they
04:25 would totally guess it was a cornflake cake. Alright they might not say
04:29 cornflake corn cake but they will know it's a cake and cornflakes are hard to
04:33 miss. And speaking of cakes to check for doneness we will test the center with
04:38 a skewer, which if cooked enough should come out totally clean. And mine did. And
04:43 then what we'll do is let this cool in the pan for about 15 to 20 minutes
04:48 before we remove it to a plate or platter. And the first step for that
04:52 would be to go around with the tip of a knife just to make sure it's not stuck
04:56 to the sides. And then once we've determined it's not we will place a pan
05:01 on top and flip it over. And it really should come right out but if not just
05:06 give it a tap or two. And then once pan free we will carefully ever so carefully
05:12 peel off that parchment paper. But under no circumstances should we ever serve it
05:17 with this side up. Oh no we're gonna take a plate and flip this back over to
05:23 reveal one of the most beautiful sights in the history of cereal based cornbread
05:28 slash cakes. I mean come on how gorgeous is that? I mean the only way this thing
05:34 gets more stunning is if we place one perfect strawberry in the middle. At
05:38 which point we can take any and all contractually obligated pictures. Which I
05:42 did while waiting for this to fully cool down. Which eventually it did. So I
05:47 grabbed a knife and cut out a nice piece and I plate it up and garnish with that
05:53 same strawberry. You know I really should have bought more than one strawberry. But
05:58 anyway I grabbed a fork and dug in. And that my friends was truly outstanding.
06:04 Okay if you're a fan of cornbread or corn cake or anything in between I think
06:09 you really are gonna love this. And originally the idea to include the
06:13 cornflakes was all about the flavor. Since I assumed they would taste really
06:17 nice. And they certainly did. But what I didn't expect is what those cornflakes
06:23 would do to the texture. Which is not that easy to explain but I'm gonna try.
06:28 Right sometimes when we make corn cake we will include fresh whole kernels of
06:32 corn. And sometimes before we add them to the batter we will pan fry them or roast
06:37 them. So they get extra sweet and caramelized and kind of chewy. Well
06:41 believe it or not that's sort of what the texture of this is like. Right those
06:46 little pieces of cornflake are kind of chewy and sweet and corny. And while it
06:51 might take a few forkfuls to get used to it and for your mouth to acclimate to
06:55 the awesomeness. This becomes texturally speaking very very very addictive. As in
07:01 be careful you won't be able to stop eating this. And I'm pretty sure this is
07:06 gonna be one of those recipes where like 75% of the people that make this will
07:10 agree with me and think it's one of the greatest things they've ever eaten. But
07:14 there will be like 25% of people that will find this texture so confusing and
07:18 disconcerting that they just won't be able to allow themselves to love it.
07:22 Which is a shame. Alright if there is any corn cake that deserves love it is this
07:28 one. And if you did want to make this closer to cornbread than corn cake that
07:33 would simply be done by adding a little less sugar and exactly how much less you
07:37 would have to experiment with. But you could definitely make this more savory.
07:41 Oh and speaking of savory let me go ahead and finish up with one quick tea
07:45 shot. Since I did serve a piece of this with my famous Lazy Hazy Beef Chili. And
07:51 I call it lazy because there's no chopping involved and almost no work. And
07:55 I call it hazy because it's cooked with a hazy IPA. So please stay tuned for that.
08:01 But in the meantime no matter what you serve this with I really do hope you
08:06 give it a try soon. So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a
08:11 printable written recipe and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy!
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