Recipe | Sweet Corn Puto-Muffins

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Remember the time I posted about Steamed Banana Cakes I made a few months ago? Using the steamer instead of the oven really did wonders and it sort of become a revelation for me. While browsing old culinary magazines for recipes I would like to try, I came across a recipe for Corn Muffins using pancake mix. It gave me an idea to steam it rather than bake it (as if I have any other choice)... and last Thursday, I made these for snacks.


Sweet Corn Muffins
makes 18 pieces
recipe by: Tina C. Diaz
published in Foodie Magazine

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cream style corn
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup fresh milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups pancake and waffle mix
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup whole corn kernels

How to Cook:

• Preheat oven to 400*F.
• In a large bowl using a wooden spoon or spatula, combine cream style corn, eggs, milk, and vegetable oil. Add pancake mix and sugar and mix until moistened, but still lumpy. Fold in whole corn kernels.
• Line muffin pans with 2 ounce paper cups. Fill each cup about three-thirds full. Bake for 10 minutes.

I followed everything in the recipe, but the first batch was a bit of a disaster. Well, the batter rose while steaming it, but when I opened the lid, it just became flat! For my pancake mix, I used the Maya Hotcake Mix, which has two 250g bags in each box. I didn't get to use all of the 250g mix, and seeing that my batter was way too runny, I decided to pour the rest of the mix, poured it into one cup and steamed it. It turned out to be a blessing - as the muffin rose and didn't flatten - as what you can see in the image above.


The recipe said fill each cup until 3/4 full, but I went on to fill the cup entirely, to make it look bigger. Well, I have yet to try this using a real oven, but like every recipe shared, it is open for adjustments.

We did love the outcome of the dish, but sister complained it didn't have that "corny" flavor she hoped. I did tell her maybe we were just used to the corn muffins served at a restaurant and maybe it used cornmeal instead of flour... but it could also be because the cream-style corn I used wasn't actually creamy. I was actually disappointed when I opened the can because it looked more like a paste. Well, first time is always prone to some disasters, and I did get to learn a lesson.

Speaking of lessons, if you want to try this recipe, please use colored muffin cups, or add a little food coloring (like some puto made from pancake mix are) if you're using white muffin cups, because when I served this to brother, he directly bit on the muffin without peeling the paper muffin cup.

I am planning to cook this again come Christmastime.