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The Story
Corn cakes aren’t specific to Mexican cuisine. Whether we’re talking the arepa from South America, fried Polenta from Italy, or corn fritters from the Southern United States, they’re all very similar. Each version has similar ingredients, similar ways of being cooked, and they are all delicious.
Corn Cakes are to dinner what pancakes are to breakfast–easy to make and easy to eat. These little cakes are a great go-to for a cheap, filling dinner, or even as a great substitute for tortillas as a side (as if you could ever get tired of eating tortillas).
The core ingredients of flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk, butter, and egg are required to make the corn cake, everything else is just an added bonus to make it fit better with the meal you’re making. The Don Juan Chiles version of these delicious little cakes include one of our favorite chiles–the ancho pasilla–as well as some oregano and corn kernels.
There’s no limit to how to spice these cakes up.
¡Provecho!
Ingredients
- 2-4 Don Juan Chiles Ancho Pasillas
- ½ c all-purpose flour
- ½ c yellow cornmeal
- ½ tsp Don Juan Chiles Baking Powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp Don Juan Chiles Oregano
- ¾ c milk
- ⅓ c melted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 c corn (fresh or canned)
Thoughts Before Starting
- If you plan on using fresh corn on the cob, cook the corn while you rehydrate the anchos. Be sure to cut the kernels off the cob prior to incorporating them into the mixture
Prep Work
- Melt the butter (feel free to use a bowl in the microwave or pan on the stovetop)
Directions
- Place anchos in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil
- Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes
- Drain the water from the pan, and when the anchos are cool enough to handle, remove the skin, stems, and seeds
- Finely dice the cooled anchos and set them aside
- Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and oregano in a bowl
- In a separate bowl, mix the milk, melted butter, and egg together
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients
- Once the dry and wet ingredients are combined, fold in the anchos and corn until thoroughly incorporated
- Start your griddle and let it come to a medium-high temperature
- Once the griddle is at temp, lightly oil it and ladle the batter on to make 3-inch cakes
- Cook for 2 minutes each side, or until golden
Spice it Up
Best served warm and topped with Tomatillo Salsa de Arbol and a dollop of sour cream