Hoe Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Mix the cornmeal, boiling water, and salt in a bowl until well combined.
Let the mixture sit for 1 minute.
Cook
Sprinkle a little cornmeal on a hot griddle.
Shape the dough into a smooth, round ball and place it on the griddle.
Pat the dough down to about ½ inch thick.
Cook until browned on one side, then turn it before the top dries out.
Bake slowly until the cake is cooked through and browned on both sides, about 30 minutes.
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
- White cornmeal
- Forms the main body of the cake, and its starch sets into a firm, sturdy dough when mixed with hot water.
- Boiling water
- Hydrates and partly cooks the cornmeal starch, making the dough pliable enough to shape.
The step that matters
Turning the cake before the top dries out. Turning while the surface is still moist keeps the cake tender and prevents a dry, cracked top. Cooking too long on one side can dry the surface before the interior sets.
“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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