Johnny Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Sift a quart of Indian meal into a pan, make a hole in the middle, and pour in a pint of warm water.
Mix the meal and water gradually into a batter, adding a small teaspoonful of salt.
Beat it very hard, and for a long time, till it becomes quite light.
Bake and serve
Then spread it thick and even on a stout piece of smooth board.
Place it upright on the hearth before a clear fire, with a flat iron or something of the sort to support the board behind, and bake it well.
Cut it into squares, and split and butter them 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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Forms the body of the cake, setting into a firm crumb as it bakes.
- Warm water
- Hydrates the meal so it forms a batter that can be beaten and spread.
The step that matters
Beating the batter. Beating hard for a long time works air into the batter, which is what makes the cake light rather than dense. Stopping early leaves it heavy after baking.
“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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