Corn Meal-pumpkin Dodgers
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Mash the cooked pumpkin until free from lumps.
Add salt, sweetening, melted shortening, and cornmeal to the pumpkin and mix thoroughly.
Ensure the mixture is soft enough to scoop by spoonfuls.
Optionally, add cornmeal to hot pumpkin and steam for 10 minutes before mixing in other ingredients.
Shape and bake
Pat the mixture into flat cakes using your hands.
Place the cakes on a greased baking sheet or griddle.
Bake for about 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
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
- Cooked pumpkin
- Provides moisture and body, so the cornmeal forms a soft, scoopable batter.
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the cakes and gives them a grainy, sturdy texture.
- Shortening
- Adds fat, which tenderizes the cakes and helps them brown in the oven.
- Sweetening
- Adds sweetness and contributes to browning on the cake surfaces.
The step that matters
Keep the mixture soft enough to scoop. Cornmeal absorbs liquid and stiffens as it sits, so a dry mix yields crumbly cakes that split. Adjusting the mixture to a soft, spoonable consistency helps the cakes hold together and bake evenly.
“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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