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Dessert

Corn Meal-pumpkin Dodgers

A baked cornmeal and pumpkin cake.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Corn Meal-pumpkin Dodgers

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

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

  1. Mash the cooked pumpkin until free from lumps.

  2. Add salt, sweetener, melted shortening, and cornmeal to the pumpkin and mix thoroughly.

  3. Ensure the mixture is soft enough to scoop by spoonfuls.

  4. Optionally, add cornmeal to hot pumpkin and steam for 10 minutes before mixing in other ingredients.

Shape and bake

  1. Pat the mixture into flat cakes using your hands.

  2. Place the cakes on a greased baking sheet or griddle.

  3. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).

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

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal
Provides the bulk and structure that hold the cakes together.
Cooked pumpkin
Adds moisture and softness to the batter.
Shortening
Adds fat for tenderness and helps the cakes brown in the oven.
Sweetener
Adds sweetness and helps browning on the cake surface.

The step that matters

Making the mixture soft enough to scoop. If the batter is too dry, the cornmeal will not hydrate and the cakes will crumble when shaped and baked. Too much moisture makes them spread and stay gummy. Getting the texture right before shaping decides how well the cakes hold together.

“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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