Southern Corn Bread Recipe

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The Fabulous Boyfriend loves cornbread.  A restaurant up the street from us makes a delicious version served with maple butter.  My previous attempts at making (or, sin of all sins, buying) it for him were a miserable failure, but since my mom bought me a cast iron skillet for Christmas, I'm going to try it again and see if I can redeem myself.  The cast iron skillet is, apparently, a must for cooking this bread (what do I know?  I'm just a Yankee).  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Recipe courtesy of One Perfect Bite: 

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups white cornmeal, preferably stone ground
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups buttermilk
4 large eggs, beaten

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Put butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and melt the butter in oven.
2) Meanwhile, mix cornmeal with cream of tartar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Add buttermilk and eggs and stir to blend.
3) Remove skillet from oven and swirl to coat with butter. Pour melted butter into batter and stir just until incorporated. Scrape batter into hot skillet and bake for about 35 minutes, or until crusty around edges and springy to touch. Invert corn bread onto a rack and let cool completely. Yield: 1 10-inch cake.