Work-in-progress: polenta cornbread muffins

I've been working on this recipe for a long, long time. Small-batch baking is tricky because I'm not splitting an egg (I can, but I won't), and I still need the recipe to work and to be fabulous. These cornbread muffins, made with proper cornmeal and which actually have corn in them, have been something of an obsession to get exactly right. I won't admit to how many I have made over the past couple of years, but like a mad scientist I have jiggled and fiddled until I arrived at the perfect recipe.

The muffins above, fresh from the oven, did not disappoint. A Eureka moment on a Sunday afternoon, a little victory to remind me that baking is the kitchen's science. The recipe, which makes just four muffins, moves into testing now and then, dear reader, it will be all yours.