Skip to content

Country

Perusa explains: Corn cakes

Perusa explains
Perusa steps before the children of the world, grinning mischievously and holding up a giant corn cake.

"Hey, do you know what this is? This is corn cake! It's basically the cake of the Incas. But not the fluffy birthday cake you get when you're good. Nope! This is the cake you get when you're sweating in the sun and you think: 'Why am I doing this?' And then a corn cake comes along and you think: 'Oh, for that!'

So, imagine you take corn that you let harden in your garden because, well, why soften it? And then you make a mash out of it. Sounds delicious, right? And when you think that's all there is to it, a lot more stuff comes in - sugar? Well, maybe. But butter? You'll have to look for it for a long time! But you get a lot of love from mom or grandma, who kneads the dough by hand until it's so hard that you can use it as a shield.
perusa explains corn cakes


And the best part? When you think it's going to be sweet, the bitter truth comes: The cake may be corn, but you'll wish it was chocolate. But don't worry, after a few bites you won't notice anything anymore because your teeth will already be numb."

Perusa laughs: "So, if you're really brave and think you can defeat the toughest Inca warriors, just try a piece of corn cake. Whoever survives is a real hero!"

perusa explains corn cakes

Perusa's Super Corn Cake for Little Heroes

Ingredients:

  • 6 ears of corn (or 4 cups of corn kernels – imagine collecting them from a huge pile!)
  • 1 cup corn flour (this is like magic dust made from corn)
  • 100 g butter (softer than clouds so it tastes good)
  • 1/2 cup milk (for the extra power)
  • 150 g sugar (because sweet things make us super strong, right?)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (so little that you almost don't taste it)
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder (so that the cake rises like a volcano in the oven!)
  • Corn leaves (only if you want to be really cool and bake like a real Inca)

Here's how it's done:

  1. How to get rid of corn: You grab the corn cobs and pull the corn kernels down. Or you can just take the corn kernels out of the can - that works too, but shhh, the Incas don't know that!

  2. Mix everything together: Take a large bowl and throw in the corn kernels, corn flour, softened butter, milk, sugar, salt and baking powder. Then stir everything until it looks like porridge - but a delicious porridge, I promise!

  3. Cool wrapping (only if you want to): If you want to be really fancy, you can wrap the dough in corn husks. But if you don't have any, just use a baking pan - that works too.

  4. Bake like an Inca: Now comes the exciting part! Put everything in the oven (but let an adult do it!) at 180°C for about 45 minutes. The corn cake will set and soon smell like a delicious surprise!

  5. Snacking: Wait a moment until it has cooled down a bit (even if it's difficult!), and then cut off a piece. Really tasty and perfect for little heroes who want to be as strong as the Incas!

Perusa's tip:

If you want, you can add a little cheese - that makes the cake really rich. Or you can just eat it plain - corn cakes are the food of real warriors, after all!

This corn cake is so easy that even little adventurers can make it!

(c) by PeruMagazin