The Hot Bread Kitchen in East Harlem, New York, may look like other upscale artisanal bakeries—but, behind the scenes, its mission is so much more than simply churning out fresh, delicious carbs. Founded by Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez in 2007, Hot Bread Kitchen employs foreign-born and low-income women and men in its workforce training facility and helps incubates food industry start-ups. A gorgeous side-effect of Hot Bread Kitchen's training programs? The delicious multi-ethnic breads and baked goods inspired by the company's bakers and sold on location in New York City.
Now, for the first time, you can bring Hot Bread Kitchen recipes into your own kitchen—The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook lands in bookstores this week and features mouthwatering recipes spanning the globe: from tortillas and ciabatta to challah, Irish soda bread, and Albanian cheese triangles. Here's one of our personal favorites: the slight-sweet torta, a Dominican corn bread. It's super-easy (only six steps!) and requires less than 10 ingredients.
Torta: Dominican Corn Bread
Makes 1 (8-inch) round loaf. Serves 8
One of the many benefits of being married to my husband, Eli, is having a whole new repertoire of family recipes from the Dominican Republic, including this torta, a quick bread made with ground corn. This particular recipe comes from my mother-in-law, Ydalia, and her version has been approved by the Dominican bakers who work at Hot Bread Kitchen. Torta's slight sweetness makes it welcome in the morning, especially when it's toasted and drizzled with a bit of honey, but it can also be served any time and anywhere you might have corn bread, such as alongside a bowl of chili.
Ingredients:
1 cup/125 grams all-purpose flour
1 cup/150 grams fine or extra fine yellow cornmeal (we use Goya brand)
1 cup/200 grams sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
