Hoe Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Scald one-third of the cornmeal with hot water.
Add the remaining cornmeal, flour, and salt.
Mix with cold water to achieve a very thick batter.
Cook
Clean and grease an old-fashioned hoe or skillet.
Spread the batter on the hoe and pat it smooth.
Set on top of hot coals and cook until brown on the bottom.
Turn with a knife and brown the other side.
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 body of the bread, giving it its grainy structure and corn flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds a little gluten-based binding to help the batter hold together while cooking.
- Hot water
- Scalds part of the cornmeal, softening its starch so the batter cooks more tender.
The step that matters
Mix with cold water to achieve a very thick batter. A very thick batter holds its shape when spread on the hoe. If it is too thin, it will run off and cook unevenly rather than forming a cake.
“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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