Hoe Cake or Corn Pone
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Mix Indian meal and salt in a bowl.
Moisten the mixture with boiling water or milk to form a dough.
Let the dough stand for a few hours until air bubbles form on the surface.
Shape and cook
Shape the dough into thick cakes or cut into slices.
Bake in the oven or fry in pork fat on a griddle.
Break apart 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
- Indian meal
- Forms the body of the bread, providing the structure once moistened and cooked.
- Boiling water or milk
- Hydrates the meal so it forms a workable dough; milk adds softness and richer flavour.
- Salt
- Seasons the dough and sharpens the flavour of the corn.
The step that matters
Let the dough stand until air bubbles form. Resting lets the cornmeal fully absorb the liquid and begin to ferment slightly, which develops flavour and a lighter, more open texture. Skipping the rest leaves a dense, flat result.
“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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