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Dessert

Real Plantation Johnny-cake

A thick batter of Indian meal, sugar, eggs, lard or butter, baking soda, cream of tartar, and buttermilk baked at 300°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Real Plantation Johnny-cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA steady oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a steady oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, combine the Indian meal, sugar, eggs, lard or butter, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

  2. Add enough buttermilk or sweet milk to create a thick batter.

Bake

  1. Grease your pan well and pour the batter into it.

  2. Bake for at least 5 hours.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  4. Cream + buttermilktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together674 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Indian meal
Forms the bulk of the cake and gives it its coarse, grainy structure.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar and buttermilk to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Cream of tartar
Provides acid that activates the baking soda, helping the cake rise and become tender.
Lard or butter
Adds fat for tenderness and a richer flavour and texture.

The step that matters

Bake for at least 5 hours. Cornmeal batters need a long, low bake so the centre sets fully and moisture cooks off without the outside browning or drying too quickly. Because the record gives only a minimum, check that the centre is set before removing the cake.

“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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