Actually, it's more like orange, white and purple cornbread. (Think of them as earthy early American versions of red, white and blue.) This wonderfuly moist, almost cake-like recipe was adapted from Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen's I Love Elvis Cookbook.

The following recipe yields one pan of cornbread. To have all three colors, you will have to make three batches, each with a different color cornmeal. Don't worry about having too much: this stuff goes fast!

Make 3 batches, one with each color cornmeal:

8 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cup cornmeal (white, blue or red*)
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 425. Put the butter in an 8-inch square pan and set it in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until melted. Swirl to coat the pan.

Pour all but 2 tablespoons of melted butter into a 2 cup measure or medium bowl, and cool slightly. Keep the remaining butter and pan warm. Placing the pan on top of the stove should be enough to keep it warm.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and make a large well in the center.

Using a fork, beat together the buttermilk, egg, and reserved butter. For red batter without red cornmeal, add achiote/buttermilk mixture as well. Pour into the well in the cornmeal-flour mixture and stir gently until just combined. Do not overbeat.

Pour the batter into the hot pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE CORNBREAD Current results will appear after you vote. Our RECIPE RATER allows just one vote per user per recipe. Click here to VIEW RESULTS WITHOUT VOTING.

Tips:

Although white cornmeal is available in most grocery stores, blue cornmeal may be harder to come by. Check gourmet food stores or order is from cookingpost for about $3.50 for a 12 oz. bag.

*You'll get the best red color from red cornmeal, but if you can't find it (it's the toughest to locate), color a batch of white cornbread with annatto powder or achiote paste. Blend a few tablespoons of buttermilk with 2 tablespoons of achiote paste or annatto powder until smooth. Blend into the batter with the other wet ingredients.

Annatto powder is made from the achiote seed and is used to color other foods such as butter, cheese or in our case cornbread. You can find it in most Mexican or Latin markets.

If you want your cornbread to be a little more vibrant, try adding 6 or 7 drops of red or blue food coloring. Just be sure not to overmix the batter when stirring the coloring in.

If you want just one batch, we found the cornbread made with the blue cornmeal to be the sweetest and the moistest, even several days later.