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Dessert

Johnny Cake

A sweet corn cake made from popped corn, sugar, glucose, molasses, butter, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Johnny Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the corn

  1. Cut the popped corn into fine pieces using a caramel cutter.

Make the candy

  1. In a pot, combine sugar, glucose, and enough water to dissolve them. Cook until the mixture reaches 270°F (132°C).

  2. Add molasses and butter, stirring until the mixture reaches 280°F (138°C) or 290°F (143°C).

  3. Remove from heat, add salt and ground corn, and stir until the corn is well coated.

  4. Heat the mixture briefly on the fire, then pour it onto a greased slab.

Shape and finish

  1. Flatten the mixture to about ½ inch thick, then roll it out evenly with a rolling pin.

  2. Once cooled, break into small pieces.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Corn + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,168 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Corn + molassestop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together644 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Forms the sweet, crisp candy base as it cooks to a set hard stage.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallisation, keeping the candy smooth rather than grainy.
Molasses
Adds flavour, colour and extra sweetness to the candy.
Butter
Adds fat for a softer bite and richer flavour.
Popped corn
Provides the crunchy, airy pieces that are bound into the candy.

The step that matters

Cooking the sugar to the target temperature. Sugar syrup temperature sets the final texture. Undercooked syrup stays sticky and soft, while overcooked syrup turns brittle or scorches, so the thermometer reading matters.

“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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