Old Virginia Batter Bread

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. 2

   Combine the cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

3. 3

   Place the lard in an 8-inch heavy iron skillet, set in oven, and let melt.

4. 4

   Meanwhile, mix the eggs lightly into the combined dry ingredients, then stir in just enough buttermilk to make a batter about the consistency of pancake batter.

5. 5

   Remove skillet from the oven, tilt so that lard greases both the sides and the bottom, and then pour the hot lard into the batter.

6. 6

   Stir briskly just to mix.

7. 7

   Pour batter into the hot skillet and bake in hot oven until firm and lightly browned, about 25 minutes.

8. 8

   Serve oven-hot, directly from skillet.

9. 9

   The way to eat batter bread is to cut it into wedges as you would a cake, then to split each wedge horizontally and tuck in a lump or two of sweet butter while the bread is still hot enough to melt it.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.

No additional tips available.