Ash-cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Mix cornmeal with coarse sea salt to taste and enough cold water to form a soft dough.
Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes.
Shape the dough into an oblong cake, about 1.5 to 2 inches thick.
Bake and serve
Sweep a clean spot on a hot hearth and place the cake on it.
Cover the cake with hot wood ashes to steam it.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, then brush and wipe before serving.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the cake, setting into a firm, starchy crumb as it bakes.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the cornmeal so it forms a cohesive, pliable dough.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the cake and sharpens the flavour of the cornmeal.
The step that matters
Covering the cake with hot ashes. The ashes must be hot enough to bake the cake through while the surrounding ash insulates and holds steam. If the ashes are too cool, the cake stays doughy; if the cake is left uncovered or the hearth is not clean, it can scorch or pick up grit.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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