Pan de elote is a moist, golden cake made from fresh sweet corn kernels blended with condensed milk, eggs and butter and bound with only a little flour. It bakes up between a cake and a pudding, dense and custardy, with the sweet, milky taste of fresh corn. Makes 10 servings in about 1 hr 35 min.
Prep20 min
Cook55 min
Cooling20 min
Total
1 hr 35 min
Servings
10
Ingredients
Adjust yield
servings
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
½ cup (125 g)unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus a little for the pan
2 ⅔ cups (450 g)fresh sweet corn kernels, cut from 4 to 5 ears
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Brush the 9-inch (23 cm) pan with a little of the unsalted butter, dust with a little all-purpose flour and line the bottom with parchment.
Put the fresh sweet corn kernels, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, melted unsalted butter and pure vanilla extract in a blender. Blend until mostly smooth with some fine texture from the corn, about 1 minute.
Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder and fine salt in a large bowl. Pour in the corn mixture and whisk just until no dry flour remains.
Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake until deep golden on top, firm at the center when pressed and a skewer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, 45 to 55 minutes. If the top browns too fast, lay foil loosely over it for the last 15 minutes.
Cool in the pan on a rack 20 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn out. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into 10 wedges.
Tips
Use tender, juicy sweet corn; starchy older corn or dried field corn makes a heavy, dry cake.
The center firms as it cools; a skewer with moist crumbs is fine, raw batter is not.
Frozen sweet corn, thawed and patted dry, works out of season.
Good with café de olla.
Made this?
Log it to keep your bakes, ratings and notes together in My Kitchen.
How long does it take to make pan de elote (mexican sweet corn cake)?
Plan on 20 minutes of prep and 55 minutes of cooking, plus 20 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 10 servings.
How should I store pan de elote (mexican sweet corn cake)?
Cover and refrigerate up to 4 days; rewarm slices briefly. Freeze wrapped slices up to 2 months.
Can I make pan de elote (mexican sweet corn cake) ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Can I use a different form of vanilla?
Yes. This recipe uses 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (5 ml). Each teaspoon of pure vanilla extract can be swapped for 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, the seeds of half a vanilla bean, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder. Paste and seeds add the classic dark specks.
Pan de elote dates to the colonial era, when native corn met Spanish butter, eggs and sugar, and today it is sold in bakeries across Mexico, from city panaderías to Tepoztlán. Serve it with café de olla.
Variations
Individual corn cakes: bake in 12 greased muffin cups, filled three-quarters full, 25 to 30 minutes.
Orange-zest pan de elote: blend 2 tsp (4 g) finely grated orange zest with the corn; bake time unchanged.
Cinnamon-sugar top: sprinkle 1 tbsp (12 g) sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp (1 g) ground cinnamon over the batter before baking.
Cream-cheese version: blend 4 oz (115 g) softened cream cheese with the corn and reduce the butter to 6 tbsp (85 g); bake 50 to 60 minutes.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 10 servings this recipe makes.
162Calories / serving
4.7gFat
25.8gCarbs
5.8gProtein
18.3gSugar
Whole recipe (10 servings):
~1620 cal ·
47g fat ·
258g carbs ·
58g protein ·
183g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
Made with VanillaGoods
Browse available VanillaGoods products below. Check each product's origin and form against the ingredient list; these recommendations do not change the recipe's quantities or preparation method.
Recipe Rating
0 commentsNo comments yet — be the first to share how this turned out for you.
Leave a comment