What does the corn flour do?

Toast

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/06/recipes.foodanddrink

hello,

 

in this recipe for soft white baps, what is the function if the corn flour?

i baked them on Christmas Eve so that we coukd have bacon and eggs baps on Christmas Day. They were lovely, but what does the corn flour do?

This being a UK recipe, the reference to corn flour means corn starch.  I can think of two possible reasons for its inclusion.  It's very absorbent, so more moisture will be retained.  Since it has no gluten, it serves as a tenderizer.

 

If you are using a strong flour with high protein/gluten, cornstarch is often added to temper the strength, make it more like a low protein "pastry/cake flour. I have seen many recipes that add 1-2 tbs. per cup of flour to make tender goodies and "baps" would fall into that category