Name: Johnnie Cake
Ingredients: 1 quart cornmeal; 1 pint warm water; 1 teaspoon salt; butter for serving

Johnnie Cake

Ingredients

1 quart cornmeal
1 pint warm water
1 teaspoon salt
butter for serving

Directions

Prepare

Sift the cornmeal into a pan.
Add warm water and salt, and stir until light.

Cook and serve

Place the mixture on a clean board, standing it nearly upright before the fire.
When browned, cut into squares.
Butter the squares nicely.
Serve hot.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal: Forms the bulk of the batter and provides the structure and grainy texture of the cake.
Warm water: Hydrates the cornmeal so it forms a pourable batter that can be shaped and cooked.
Butter: Adds richness and fat to the finished squares, softening their dry, starchy texture.

“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.