Johnny-cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Sift the Rhode Island meal and salt into a bowl.
Pour boiling water over the mixture while stirring continuously.
Stir and beat until the meal has fully swelled.
Shape and bake
Wet your hands with cold water and shape the mixture on a board made from a flour barrel head.
Place the board in front of an open fire, supported by a flatiron.
Bake thoroughly on one side, then carefully turn to brown the other side.
Serve
Once done, split the Johnny-cake, butter generously, and serve hot.
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
- Rhode island meal
- Forms the main body of the cake, with its starch setting as it cooks.
- Boiling water
- Hydrates the cornmeal and swells it into a workable, moist dough.
The step that matters
Stirring in the boiling water and beating until swelled. Boiling water must be added while stirring so the meal absorbs it evenly without lumps. Beating until fully swelled lets the starch hydrate, giving a smooth dough that holds its shape on the board.
“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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