Pan de Elote is Costa Rica Corn Bread using Fresh Corn from the Cob

Growing corn in the rain forest is difficult. Growing corn in the rain forest without chemicals is near impossible. Bugs, worms, heavy rains are just a few of the many reasons we have only a small amount of corn this year. We planted about 100 seeds and came up with about 33 ears of corn. Stalks fell over due to saturated soil, dogs ran through the field knocking over even more and the insects feasted.

We did however get 33 beautiful ears or elote. We were planning on drying some corn for flour but because of an extended rainy season we feel it best to simply use the corn now. A neighbor told me how to use fresh corn to make corn bread, which if you look on the internet most say its not advisable that fresh corn ruins cornbread. I beg to differ as this recipe has made the tastiest, sweetest corn cake that I have ever eaten.

How to make Pan de Elote

First, remove the husk and silk from the cob. An easy way to remove all of the silk is to pull straight down on all the silk at once. Then, remove the kernels from the cob using a sharp knife. Don’t try and get to close to the cob, it’s not worth the frustration of your knife getting stuck.

Put all of the kernels in a blender of food processor until you make a paste that looks like photo below. You may need to add water to get the blades to turn but do so sparingly as to keep the recipe pure.

 

THE RECIPE

2 Cups Fresh Corn Paste

3/4 Cup Milk or Buttermilk

4 Eggs, whipped

1/2 Cup Butter (1 Stick)

1 Cup Natural Sugar (Brown)

2 Cups White Flour

3 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

Cinnamon to Taste

Add your wet ingredients to your bowl and mix well. Then, add your dry ingredients and mix again. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes and test center before removing from heat. *Tip – I soften my butter by putting it in my baking pan and adding it to the oven during pre-heating. This way my pan is already greased when its time to bake.

This is what is left after boiling down sugar cane juice. It is sugar in its natural form. It is called Tapa de Dulce here in Costa Rica. You can see how we make sugar from our sugar cane that grows on our farm in this post Raw Sugar Processing using a Manual Press. 

The bread comes out more like a cake and it is delicious with white bean and ham soup or all by itself, warm with butter and honey on top.

You can find more of our farm recipes here . Please feel free to add any alternative recipes of additives that have made your pan de elote better.