My corn craving continues unabated!

This time, I reached out to a friend from Mexico, remembering the incredible corn bread I used to buy from street vendors during my work trips there. I can still picture those treats piled high with handmade signs proudly announcing "hecho en casa" (homemade). After describing these wonderful sweet morsels to my friend, she laughed and said, "Mija, estás hablando de un simple pan de elote" (Girl, you're talking about a simple corn bread). She then kindly sent me the recipe to satisfy my nostalgia.

Pan de elote means "corn bread," but don't be confused—this isn't anything like American cornbread. When done right, it's like the freshest homemade creamed corn crossed with flan or bread pudding. It's not so much a bread as a dense, buttery cake-pudding that's divine!

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. Everything goes into a blender or food processor—add, mix, pour into a prepared cake pan, and in less than an hour, you've got this warm sweet treat that you'll want to bury your face in (no judgment here, I nearly did).

While the flavor was perfect in my first attempt, it didn't come out as dense as I remembered from the streets of Mexico City. Something wasn't quite right, so I consulted my friend again. She explained that corn in the United States contains more moisture than Mexican corn, resulting in a runnier batter. She suggested either letting the corn dry out on the counter for a few days or adjusting the recipe—using 4 eggs instead of 5 and increasing the flour from 3 to 4 tablespoons for better texture. I'm taking a gamble and sharing the recipe with these adjustments already made.

One final note: don't let the entire can of sweetened condensed milk scare you off! The result has the perfect balance of sweetness. Besides, there's almost nothing in this world that condensed milk doesn't improve (okay, Nutella is a given in the improvement department too)."

PAN DE ELOTE – CORN BREAD

5 ears of corn, shucked (about 4 cups kernels)
4 big tablespoons of rice flour (you can also use regular flour too)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
⅓ cup cream cheese (or you can use crema)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Remove the husks and the silk from the corn and cut the kernels off as close to the husk as possible without removing any of the husk. You should have about 4-5 cups of kernels. (It’s ok if you are under or a bit over)

Sift together the flour and the baking powder and put aside. In a blender or food processor, put the eggs, condensed milk, cream cheese (or crema), butte,r and vanilla and mix to combine.

Add the flour mixture and the corn kernels and blend until well incorporated – the mixture will not be smooth, but a bit chunky and that is ok. If it s a bit runny its also ok.

Pour batter on grease pan and place in oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (start to check it at the 45-50 minute mark) Allow it to cool off for 20 minutes and invert to serving plate. Cut into slices and enjoy.

This is good alone like a snack or as a side to any hearty entre, like ribs or stew. Its algo good warm or even cold! Tom and I been eating right off the fridge.