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Dessert

Cornmeal Drop Cakes

A simple cornmeal batter dropped onto a hot griddle, cooked until browned and puffed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Cornmeal Drop Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix cornmeal, fat, and salt in a bowl.

  2. Add beaten egg yolks.

  3. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more milk or water.

  4. Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Cook on the griddle

  1. Drop spoonfuls onto a greased hot griddle.

  2. Cook until browned and puffed with air bubbles.

  3. Flip and cook the other side until done.

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 main structure of the cakes as its starch sets when cooked.
Eggs
Yolks add richness and binding, while whites trapped air helps the cakes puff.
Fat
Adds tenderness and helps the cakes brown on the griddle.
Hot water
Hydrates the cornmeal so the batter becomes spreadable and cooks through.

The step that matters

Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. The whites hold air bubbles that make the cakes puff. Vigorous stirring deflates them, leaving dense, flat cakes.

“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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