When I was a kid, my mom used to make our cornbread with yogurt. Sometimes it was plain yogurt, and sometimes it was vanilla, custard style. This always resulted in a rich, moist cornbread, reminiscent of cake. It was perfect – no butter, no honey necessary. (Well, okay, sometimes we’d indulge with honey butter). In any case, I whipped up this Vanilla Pecan Corncake as a bit of an experiment, throwing back to my memory of the addition of vanilla yogurt to the standard side with chili (or for some, Thanksgiving dinner). Yet, for an extra crunch, I added corn chips, for even more texture and form, creamed corn was added, and then, just because it’s cake, I topped it off with pecans.

Enjoy: for dessert, for breakfast, for lunch, or alongside a bowl of chili.

Vanilla Pecan Corncake

1 cup corn chips, somewhat finely processed – not quite crumbs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup creamed style canned corn
1 cup white sugar
8 Tbs. butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a square baking dish with butter and a touch of flour. (8″ x 8″).
Combine all ingredients, except pecans, in the bowl of a large food processor. Whip until smooth and creamy – and quite thick.
Using a spatula, transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.