Southwestern Corn Cakes with Jalapeño Lime Cream

Southwestern Corn Cakes with Jalapeño Lime Cream offer perfect lightly-fried bites of sweet corn, cheese, and peppers topped with a slightly-spicy citrus sour cream.

My grandfather (Gramps) brought fresh corn to a family gathering last week. Like, picked-from-the-field-that-day fresh. He and my aunt tried cooking it using that cooler and boiling water hack. I’m not sure it worked, but seriously, it didn’t matter. The room temperature corn I devoured – sans butter, salt, or pepper – was divine. So divine, in fact, that I brought a bag of leftover ears home and immediately began dreaming of what I wanted to do with it.

I have several go-to corn recipes, but only one that I had all the ingredients for: Southwestern Corn Cakes with Jalapeño Lime Cream. Just like regular corn cakes, these guys are packed with juicy kernels and cheddar cheese. To add a Southwestern twist, I toss in sweet bell peppers and jalapeños. The resulting corn cakes are on the spicy side (I use a full tablespoon of diced jalapeño), so the jalapeño lime cream is the perfect cool relief.

Southwestern Corn Cakes with Jalapeño Lime Cream

Ingredients

For the Corn Cakes

2 cups corn kernels (about 4-5 medium ears)
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 tbs melted butter
1/4 cup diced sweet bell pepper
1 tsp – 1 tbs diced jalapeños (I use jarred)
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
vegetable oil for cooking

For the Jalapeño Lime Cream

1/3 cup sour cream
1 tsp lime juice
1 tbs liquid from a jar of jalapeños
2-5 dashes of hot sauce

In a large bowl, combine all the corn cake ingredients, mixing well to make sure everything is combined. Cover the bottom of a large skillet – cast iron for the win again! – with vegetable oil and place over medium heat. When oil is hot, scoop spoonfuls (the ice cream scoop I used was the perfect size) of batter into the skillet and gently smooth into a cake. Cook corn cakes for three to five minutes per side, or until golden brown. When each side has cooked, remove from pan and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

While corn cakes are cooking, mix together sour cream, lime juice, jalapeño liquid, and hot sauce in a medium bowl. Serve cakes warm.

Notes

Have you seen this handy corn cob trick? Use a bundt pan to hold the cob and to catch the shaved kernels. No mess!

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