The Mija Chronicles

Mexican food and culture, on both sides of the border

Buttery, Mexican-style pan de elote

by

Pan de elote literally means “corn bread,” and it’s one of those iconic Mexican desserts I can’t get enough of.

This is not like American cornbread at all. When it’s done right, it’s like the freshest homemade creamed corn crossed with a flan or bread pudding. It’s not so much a bread as a dense, buttery cake-pudding. That you just want to bury your face in. (As an aside, Azul y Oro was the first place that showed me how amazing pan de elote could be. If you go there, please order the pan de elote.)

I’ve been craving both sugar and corn lately, so last week, I picked up a few bags of fresh corn at the tianguis and decided to make pan de elote for the first time.

This being an iconic dish, I assumed there were several ways to make it. So I consulted my Mexican cookbooks to find a recipe I liked. Flipped through Diana Kennedy, Rick Bayless, Zarela Martinez, Josefina Velazquez de Leon and Fany Gerson before settling on Mexico en la Cocina de Marichu, a cookbook of traditional Mexican recipes published in 1969. (I bought it at the La Lagunilla market last year.)

In the “Reposteria” section, next to recipes for a Torta de Zanahoria and a Torta de Melón, was a simple recipe for a Torta de Elote. It contained only five ingredients: corn, butter, sugar, eggs and flour. Unassuming yet satisfying. Bingo.

The recipe called for grinding the corn up front, which would no doubt add that fresh corn flavor I craved. And it called for beating egg whites and folding them into the batter at the end — a step that kind of scared me a bit. I’m always afraid of under- or over-beating egg whites.

In the end, everything went fine, except for my crazy oven cooked the thing too fast. After two separate trips into the oven, the result was exactly what I’d hoped for: a rich, soft cake that tasted somewhere between creamed corn and the fresh, steamed ears they sell on the streets. Only sweet and slathered with butter.

I baked the corn cake in my springform pan because I didn’t want to fuss with removing anything from a greased dish, and I wanted to cut it into triangle-shaped wedges like they do in the restaurants.

Crayton took half of it to work. Later that afternoon I got a text from his coworker, Carlos. It read: “El pastel está GENIAL!”

The recipe’s below. For a similar pan de elote recipe with step-by-step photos, check out Mexico in My Kitchen.


Torta de Elote
Adapted from Mexico en la Cocina de Marichu, by María A. de Carbia
Serves 8 to 10

Note: The originally recipe calls for grinding all of the corn up front, but I only ground half because I wanted that whole-kernel texture. The kernels hardened a bit once they cooled — next time I think I’d try par-boiling them first. Also, using the best butter you can find really makes a difference. In Mexico City, I like Lurpak.

The recipe below is specific to standing mixers, but if you don’t have one, this could obviously all be done by hand. (Although whisking egg whites by hand takes more patience than I’ve got.) Likewise, if you don’t have a round pan any greased oven-proof dish is fine.

In local restaurants, pan de elote is served warm, often with a side of ice cream or soft, slightly sweetened whipped cream.

Ingredients

4 heaping cups fresh corn
150 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature (about 1 American stick + 4 tablespoons)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs, separated
6 tablespoons of flour

Grind half of your corn in the food processor until it resembles a thick puree. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer equipped with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until well combined. Keep the machine running and add your egg yolks one by one, until incorporated. Add in your corn puree, remaining corn kernels and the flour.

Pour this mixture into another bowl, and rinse out your standing mixer bowl. Change to the whisk attachment. Beat your egg whites until they form stiff peaks. (In Spanish, this is called “a punto de turrón.”) You’ll know the whites are done when you turn the bowl upside down and the whites don’t move.

Gently fold the beaten whites into your corn batter and pour into a round, greased springform pan, or greased dish of your choosing. Bake in a moderate oven (350F) for about 90 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took about an hour and 15 minutes, but your time could be less, depending on the altitude.

Let it cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Wow, looks good and really sounds good. You really go all out when you cook. I have the same cookbooks as you except for the last on La Cocina De Marichu. Thanks for sharing. Have a great week.

  2. This is one of my favorite things to seek out all over Mexico. In Colonia Roma, I love the pan de elote from Pasteria Suisse. In the city of Oaxaca, I love it at Restaurante Maria Lombardo.

    The corn bread we make in the US is no where near the dense, moist, intensely corn-y cake found in Mexico. I believe it is due to the true corn found in Mexico, unlike the modified version available in the US.

  3. It sounds wonderful! I can’t wait to try it on my next trip to Mexico City. Would cake flour make it any better?

    • Mom: I’m not sure. I haven’t sought out cake flour here — I’d probably have to make a special trip to a baking store. Anyone else know how cake flour might affect the taste?

  5. hi there! just wanted to let you know we featured this post on the FoodPress.com homepage today. Lovely photo…but more importantly, I SO want to try this out! your description is mouthwatering! Thanks, Jane

    • I’m not sure. If you try it, definitely let me know. I assume the freshest corn is the best… not sure if you can still find fresh corn in Texas or not. (I highly doubt this would work with canned corn, btw, because it doesn’t taste like anything!)

  8. Thank you so much for this recipe!! I first had this dessert bread in Mexico almost a year ago now and it was incredible. I just copied down your recipe so that I can make it soon.

  10. @Lesley, I’ve seen some sources that say that the ordinary flour we get at the supermercados is like North American cake flour. So if this is true, we are baking with cake flour all the time in DF.

    I tried to find something I could cite to back this up, but couldn’t. So I don’t know if it’s actually true or not. In any case, I have good results whether using the available flour in recipes calling for cake flour or all-purpose flour. Even yeast breads turn out well, though it would be nice to find a place to buy actual bread flour.

    • Yay! Glad it worked out. I know, it’s totally addictive. I *made* Crayton take half of it to work. Ate pretty much the entire other half by myself.

      • ha! After we had taken a few bites each, I told my hubby I had to tell my bestie to come over for some (she’s a corn addict). By the time I had finished that first slice I began deliberating whether or not to be nice and share. About 2 hours later I sent her a text. She was out of town and said she couldn’t make it till the next day. She hasn’t called. I didn’t call. Cake is gone 🙂

        PS: We’ve been eating it with queso fresco. That salty sweet thing… OH MY.

  13. “Even yeast breads turn out well, though it would be nice to find a place to buy actual bread flour.”

    I use Harina OPTIMA, milled by Harinera Guadalupana for my bread flour (and just about everything else.) I don’t make many cakes. If I did, I’d look for Harina CELESTIAL in the supermercado or KERRY at a bakery supply house. Check Molinera El Progreso, on Calle Arandas at Ayuntamiento, Centro, for various flours.

    Speaking of which, some Morelia friends are seeking whole grains or whole grain cereals that are unsweetened. They are going to el DF the first half of December. Any leads?

    Saludos,
    Don Cuevas

    • I bought a kilo of fresh barley at the Mercado 100, which is the new organic market I blogged about recently. Green Corner in Condesa also stocks a lot of Bob’s Red Mill products, I think including their hot cereal. (It’s a whole grain, unsweetened hot cereal.) They’ve also got quinoa. The Centro Macrobiotico Tao in the Col. Roma on Cozumel also stocks quinoa, along with quinoa and amaranth flour. Might try them for any unsweetened cereals.

      Hope that helps!

  14. Hello Lesley,

    Muchas gracias por referir mi blog. Otra blogera me comento sobre tu blog y me ha encantado. Sobretodo por la cantidad de enlaces que tienes a blogs que no conocia. Ahora necesito tiempo para poder visitarlos a todos. Que padre que estes viviendo en Mexico y puedas disfrutar de toda la riqueza culinaria de la Cd. y sus alrededores. Sobretodo de los alrededores.

    Saludos, un abrazo y que suerte encontrar tu blog no sabes el gusto que me da.

    Mely

    • Gracias Mely! Me alegro que me hayas encontrado. Me gusta tu blog mucho, así que fue un placer recomendarlo. Te mando muchos saludos desde el Distrito Federal.

  16. Ah, the local corn season is now over, but I will wait. I can smell it now, steam rising as I cut into it (or spoon it out!) because I’m rebellious and not waiting for it to cool.

  18. just went to Maria’s in Oaxaca…not sure if the chefs changed, after the initial post that was made while ago, and the quality of pastel along with them….but would say go to Casa Oaxaca to get a good tasting pan de elote(maiz as they name it there). it was a pan del dia so it might not be available all the time. highly recommended. besides this dessert cant tell much more other than the service is nice. better make reservations. chocolate trio dessert is not something to write home about….coffee is good 🙂

  20. I made pan de elote with the US style corn, yellow and white hybrid, it turned out very nice, not quite the type I have at Hacienda Arroyo, but very good. I did have to add a bit more flour as the corn had a high water content. But a great recipe!

  21. I can testify that this recipe is doable by hand; from shaving the kernels off the ear (which no vendor at my local market was ready to do) to beating the egg whites using a fork (as I am yet to find a whisk). Slipping on kernels and chasing caterpillars from discarded corn ears while trying to whip the thing together got me doubting the point of doing so, but when I got it out the oven (the neighbor’s oven actually) and held that steaming pudding-like gorgeousness in my hands I quickly changed my mind. Corn, butter, eggs – how could that go wrong? My neighbor suggested eating it with something she referred to as Nestlé La Lechera, which I got as being condensed milk, but that sounded too sweet to me. A cup of strong coffee was all I asked for. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    • Sara: You’re my hero. Beating egg whites by hand! Also, shame on the market vendors — I’ve never had one reject me when I’ve asked for elote desgranado. I just got some yesterday at the Mercado de Medellín in fact.

      So glad it worked out for you and that you stuck it out. I’m craving a slice for breakfast right now but all I’ve got is a boring old banana.

  22. If you’re using corn meal instead of grinding your own corn, would it still be 4 cups of meal or would it be a little less?

    • Hi Jon: My sense is that it would be much less. The fresh ground corn has more of a paste-like consistency and it adds moisture to the cake, so I’m assuming that if you use cornmeal you’ll add less (as to not dry the cake out) and also maybe increase the liquid content as well. I would start out with even one cup of cornmeal, and stir and taste from there. It’ll be an experiment, but if you do it, let me know how it turns out. You may also want to consult Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio cookbook, if you have it, which has lots of helpful explanations about how much fat/butter/flour should be in a given cake. Good luck!

  23. I just finished a six day fishing trip on Baja Sur’s East Cape, and now am hanging out in Cabo San Lucas for the day before flying back to San Diego. Tired and craving a pick-me-up, I found Cafe Cabo, a little local coffee shop up the street from my hotel by the marina. Nice ladies served me well-pulled expresso shots and this stunning dulce…. pan de elote…. something new to me. I haven’t been this pleased by baked goods since I discovered pastel de tres leches. Thanks for providing a recipe.

  24. Hey there I’m just starting to backed one and used can corn (yellow corn) substitute a little sugar for 2 table spoon of sweet condense milk and add teaspoon of vanilla..