BARBADOS Corn Pone (Cornmeal Cake with Raisins and Cherries)

[Olga Drozd]

BARBADOS Corn Pone (Cornmeal Cake with Raisins and Cherries)

To make 1 eight-inch round cake.

1/2 cup butter, plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
Pinch of salt
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons light rum
1 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup candied cherries, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 F. With a pastry brush, spread 1 tablespoon of softened butter over the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform cake pan.

Sift the cornmeal and flour together.  In a deep bowl, cream the remaining ½ pound of butter, the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the cornmeal mixture together by beating and mashing them against the sides of the bowl with a large spoon until they are light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, nutmeg and salt and, beating constantly, slowly pour in the eggs in a thin stream.  Beat in about 1 cup of the cornmeal/flour mixture, then ¼ cup of the milk, and continue adding alternately until the cornmeal and milk have been combined.

Stir in the rum, raisins and cherries, and pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 ½ hours, or until the top of the cake is golden and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let the cake cook for 4 to 5 minutes before removing the sides of the springform.  Then, with the aid of a large metal spatula, slide it off the bottom of the pan onto a cake rack to cool completely.

The Cooking of the Caribbean Islands