Serves 8
Level: Easy; Prep time: 10 minutes; Cook time: 1 hour, 10 minutes; Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes, plus 15 minutes resting time

This pomegranate upside-down bread is a bit seedy since pomegranates are a bit seedy—but if you love this fruit, you’re used to that. Butterfly pea flowers take the blue corn bread mix to another level of the cerulean hue. The contrast between the bright red fruit topping and the blue bottom of the corn bread is stunning. Swap in any seasonal fruit for your upside-down top, and serve with a light weeknight dinner of calabacitas or alongside other colorful fare on a holiday table.

Print Recipe

Pomegranate Upside-Down Blue Corn Bread

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups pomegranate seeds (arils)
  • 3 cups blue corn bread mix (I used Southwest Heritage Mill’s mix*)
  • 2 teaspoons butterfly pea flower powder
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 eggs

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F (or whatever temperature is recommended for your corn bread mix).
  • In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and swirl butter to coat the entire bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar, then spread pomegranate seeds evenly on top of the sugar. Set aside.
  • Combine blue corn bread mix, butterfly pea powder, buttermilk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
  • Spoon corn bread batter over fruit and spread it evenly from edge to edge. Bake for 35 minutes (or whatever time is recommended for your corn bread mix) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Cool for a few minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of the corn bread and place a large plate or platter upside down over the cake pan. Using pot holders to hold the pan to the plate, flip the plate over and lift off the pan, so the bread comes out upside down on the plate.

Notes

If you want to make this recipe without a prepackaged mix, follow your favorite corn bread recipe, using blue cornmeal and adding 2 teaspoons butterfly pea flower powder to the dry ingredients. Follow step 2 for the pomegranate topping.

Note: This recipe has been updated since it appeared in print.

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Stephanie Cameron was raised in Albuquerque and earned a degree in fine arts at the University of New Mexico. She is the art director, head photographer, recipe tester, marketing guru, publisher, and owner of edible New Mexico and The Bite.