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Dessert

Plain Johnny Cake

A cornmeal cake baked at 400°F until cooked through.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Plain Johnny Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wet the cornmeal with either hot or cold water.

  2. Pack it one inch thick in a baking pan.

Bake

  1. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until cooked through.

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

What each ingredient does

Cornmeal
Forms the body of the cake, giving it its grainy, sturdy texture once cooked.
Water
Hydrates the cornmeal so it can set into a cohesive, moist cake when baked.

The step that matters

Packing the cornmeal to one inch thick. Cornmeal has no gluten to trap gas, so the cake's structure depends on its depth and even contact with heat. A layer that is too thin dries out, while one that is too thick may stay raw in the center.

“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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