Indian-meal Cake — Johnny Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Scald the Indian meal by stirring in boiling water until a stiff dough forms.
Mold the dough into a cake ¾ inch thick.
Bake on a board before the fire, or in a stove or range.
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
- Indian meal
- Its starch swells in boiling water, binding the dough into a firm, sturdy structure that holds its shape.
The step that matters
Scalding the meal. Boiling water must be stirred through the whole meal so the starch gelatinizes evenly. Dry pockets stay crumbly, while overly wet dough becomes slack and hard to shape.
“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.
More johnny cake recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.