Hoe Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, mix cornmeal, water, and salt to form a very stiff batter.
Cook and serve
Grease a griddle and pour the batter to form a large cake.
Pat the cake down and cook slowly, turning it until done.
Serve on a large plate for everyone to break off pieces.
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 main structure of the cake and gives it its grainy texture.
- Water
- Hydrates the cornmeal so it forms a stiff, cohesive batter.
The step that matters
Cook slowly and turn until done. Cooking over low, gentle heat lets the cake cook through to the centre before the outside browns too deeply. Cornmeal without wheat flour has no gluten to hold it, so the cake stays fragile and can crumble if it is handled roughly or flipped too early.
“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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