Comforting Colombian Cornbread

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Teatime has always been a must in many Latin families. We usually gather around the table in the afternoon to enjoy a cup of coffee with a snack in a ritual called onces. I always thought our version of teatime was meant for adults only, but in my family, while my parents worked, my sisters and I stayed home doing our homework under the care of our nana. At around 4:30, nana would ask us to take a break and come to the living room for onces. At the time, my four sisters and I (ranging in ages five to eleven) pretended to be adults sitting around the coffee table, talking like grownups while enjoying some of nana's torta de mazorca (or corn cake) with a glass of milk

Every time I travel to Colombia, I call nana and ask her to make me onces. She already knows that what I'm really asking for is her delicious torta de mazorca. I finally wrote down her recipe to duplicate on my own. Here it is!

Enjoy!

Ingredients
(6 servings)
2 cups corn kernels
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ cup corn flour


Try my Ajiaco soup recipe for another comforting winter dish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a baking pan. Place the corn in a blender, and pulse until the grains become a thick mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the butter with the sugar to form a soft mix. Add the eggs, corn, cheese and salt, and continue to mix by hand. Stir in the baking powder and corn flour until just blended. Pour the mixture into the pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!


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