Skip to content

Johnny Cake

From What to get for breakfast (1882).

No ratings yet

A historical recipe

What to get for breakfast, by M. Tarbox Colbrath (1882).

United States

Known as an American recipe, with similar versions prepared across other nations.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards.

Ingredients 2 ingredients

  1. Two cupfuls of Indian meal
  2. A saltspoonful of salt

Cook safely

Keep children and pets away from the hob and the oven, and keep oven gloves and a lid within reach.

  • Oven and hot trays. Use dry oven gloves for trays and dishes: a hot tray looks just like a cold one. Open the oven door away from your face and let the first rush of heat out.
  • Grill and open flame. Keep sleeves, hair and tea towels away from the flame, and stay with the grill while it's lit. Barbecue outdoors only, never in a closed space.

Method

  1. This cake was originally baked in front of an open fire on the hearth of an old-fiishioned fireplace.
  2. Fireplaces are now superceded by ranges and stoves, consequently, our Johnny cake has to be baked on the griddle or in the oven, and is not quite like its predecessors in flavor, yet it is a descendant.
  3. To make this cake, take Two cupfuls of Indian meal.
  4. A heaping teaspoonful of sugar.
  5. A saltspoonful of salt.
  6. Pour to these enough scalding water or scalded sweet milk to make a mixture thick enough to retain its form when moulded in the hand.
  7. Let this stand half an hour or more.
  8. Grease griddle with butter.
  9. Fit a cake half an inch thick to it.
  10. Smooth its surface.
  11. When nicely browned turn, but just before turning, place a bit of butter on the cake to keep it from scorching after turned.
  12. The heat must be moderate.
  13. When both sides are nicely browned, it can be transferred to a pan and a hot oven to finish its crispness, or it can be baked entirely in the oven.
  14. These are a delicious corn cake, when baked long enough to give them the desired crispy sweetness, and are irresistible to the lovers of crust, and crisp Indian cake.
  15. Serve hot.
  16. stewed Peas.
  17. Mutton Chops.
  18. Corn Meal Griddles.

Plating

Cookware for this recipe

  • Griddle
Source not stated by archive.org
Credit

From What to get for breakfast (1882), printed page 240, digitised by the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/whattogetforbrea00colb

What was changed: Read by machine from the book's scanned text into ingredients and method. The title's capitals were tidied; spelling and scanning errors are left as they are.