Corn Gems: Really just little Corn Muffins – but better. Their heritage and traditional ingredients make them special. Also special is the history gem, that today’s recipe is updated and newstalgized from an ‘instruction’ in a 100-year-old cookbook!
Simply Recipes contributor Candace Nagy sets the scene for today’s culinary exploration thus:
“I love flipping through old cookbooks and trying out recipes from the past. So, when I stumbled across a recipe for ‘corn gems’ in the 1920s Corn Products Cookbook, featuring products by Kings-ford’s corn starch and Karo corn syrup, I knew I had to give it a try.”
She even admits: “It’s now my new baking obsession.”
Quite the recommendation…
That’s quite a recommendation, especially from someone who makes their living creating and testing recipes! But her update to the original ‘instruction’ seems to embody all the right tweaks for all the right reasons…
Early Corn Gems
The first Corn Gems were occasioned by the invention of what we now know as the ‘muffin tin’. Bos-ton inventor Nathaniel Waterman had already patented a number of kitchen and other household contraptions when he filed for his unnamed device in 1859. He described it as consisting of ‘cups, connections and handles’ made from a single piece of cast iron. Which he touted as “a new or im-proved cooking utensil of great value in cooking eggs or baking bread or cakes in a uniform manner.”
Corn Gems were among the earliest recorded treats created in Waterman’s invention.
Not exactly corn muffins
Corn Gems are not exactly Corn Muffins. They’re something more. Originally quite dense, Nagy has refined the formula to create a produce that is still fine-crumbed, but lighter and fluffier than the classic.
One glance at the ingredient list tells the tale, authentic Corn Bread is fairly heavy, and is made from just a few simple ingredients. Nagy’s Corn Gems feature some critical additions, and adjustments in amounts and proportions:
“The recipe calls for cornmeal, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter-milk, corn syrup, eggs, and [a piece of] butter ‘the size of an egg’, which I converted to an entire stick of butter after my first batch came out dry. (I also doubled the amount of corn syrup to make them a bit sweeter.)
“And because I don’t use buttermilk enough to justify buying it at the store, I made my own by ad-ding a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to milk and letting it sit for about 15 minutes.”
Authentic approach
Nagy opted for the authentic, traditional approach in baking her Gems. She used a real cast iron muffin pan and greased the bare cups ‘generously’ before filling them ‘a little more than half way’. I recommend using paper baking cups to ensure that your gems don’t stick.
Note that they won’t rise much. But don’t worry. They’ll come out soft, moist and delicious just the same!
My take
Nagy insists her newstalgized Corn Gems are appropriate for just about any meal and partner with just about anything. I like the idea that they7’e a little sweeter than traditional Corn Muffins. That opens up a whole realm of enhanced snack and dessert possibilities!
Nagy neglects to mention one significant factor in favour of her Corn Gems: they’re composed en-tirely of ingredients most cooks always have on hand – staples. Which means you won’t think twice about throwing together a batch anytime the urge takes you!
~ Maggie J.