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.