Johnny Cake? Pass Down Recipes

Johnny cake?

mystik 14 years ago

I'm looking for an old-fashioned recipe that my grandmother made - she called it johnny cake - but when I google it, I don't find the right thing.

It is a cornbread cake, made with cornmeal, served warm, in a bowl, with butter and maple syrup. It is baked in the oven, has a more firm 'cornmeal-y' texture (not like the lighter texture of regular dessert cake) - The cake itself isn't too sweet, but the maple syrup makes it just delicious!

So many of the recipes I have googled have corn in it, and sometimes even has vinegar in the recipe which gives it a rather sour taste - which is just wrong imho!

Does anybody have a recipe for anything like this?

~Jamie

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organicmama 14 years ago said:

Boy there are a lot of em out there. I tried a different search engine and came up with a few different ones, see if any of these sound right. Some are on the griddle and one is done in the oven. I wish I knew more about what to look for.

Crispy Johnny Cakes

1 cup Quaker or Aunt Jemima Enriched White or Yellow Corn Meal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Heat griddle to 400°F. Griddle is ready when drops of water sizzle, then disappear quickly.
In medium bowl, combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Stir in milk and egg; mix well. Let stand 5 minutes.
Lightly grease griddle with solid shortening.
Pour 1/4 cup batter for each cake onto greased griddle.
Bake until edges are dry and top is covered with small bubbles, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn; bake second side 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve warm with butter and syrup.
From Aunt Jemima

JOHNNY CAKES
1 cup yellow cornmeal ¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 tablespoon molasses
1 well-beaten egg butter for greasing pan
1 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter ½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup sugar 1 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease an 8” square baking dish or pan. In a large mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients together. Add buttermilk, beaten egg, molasses, and melted butter to dry mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes. After removing from oven, turn upside down and remove from container. Let cool slightly.

From KS grains

Recipe for Johnny Cakes
Johnny Cakes are corn bread, really more like a pancake, that settlers learned how to make from Native Americans. Cornmeal was easier to grow and grind and less expensive than wheat flour. The Pilgrims who landed in 1620, for example, brought wheat and rye seed with them, but found that corn was easier to grow.
Johnny Cakes were good hot, but often were made to take on a trip. Sometimes they were called Journey Cakes. On special occasions, honey or maple syrup were poured over the Johnny Cakes. If an egg was available, it could be added to the batter.
Johnny Cakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup cornmeal 1/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup boiling water Shortening for greasing the skillet
Mix the cornmeal and salt in a bowl. Pour the boiling water over the cornmeal and stir. Let the mixture stand for about five minutes. If the mixture is too thick to spread in the pan, add one to two tablespoons of water.
Heat a lightly greased skillet or griddle. Pour the mixture into the skillet. You can cook the entire recipe at once or you can make small cakes.
Cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes.

From readwritethink

Here is an example of a common jonnycake recipe that makes eight to ten cakes:

Ingredients:

1 cup ground white or yellow corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup milk (optional)
Combine corn meal, salt, and sugar and mix well. Gradually stir in water until mixture is smooth. It will be quite thick and the consistency of mashed potatoes. For thinner jonnycakes, add up to 1/2 cup milk or water.

Heat griddle and thoroughly grease with butter. Drop batter by tablespoons onto griddle and fry over medium heat for about six minutes or until small bubbles pop on top of the pancake. Be careful griddle is not too hot. Turn and cook on the other side for another six minutes. Serve buttered with maple or pancake syrup.
From Wikipedia

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pointsevenout 14 years ago said:

Try looking up corn pone or polenta.

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thepiggs 14 years ago said:

One of the recipes given as a reply to your request sounds similar to mush. You might try that and see if it works. You can buy mush in the refrigerated section of many grocery stores and is easy to use.
I think the easiest is to slice it off and fry in butter and serve with syrup.
It's not exactly like a pancake but it is cornmeal and is served with syrup.
I hope this might be of help! It might be an easy alternative.

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recipediva 14 years ago said:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease thoroughly an 8 inch square cake pan.
Combine cornmeal and milk. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir together the egg and milk.
Cream shortening, and blend in sugar. Stir flour mixture and egg mixture alternately into creamed mixture alternately. Blend in cornmeal mixture.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve hot, with maple syrup.

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recipediva 14 years ago said:

Thanks for the recipe...it tasted just like the one Mom made...we ate it warm like cornbread. Must be quite yummy with syrup!

5 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Feb. 21, 2005 by MARYB75 I was looking for a good cornbread recipe for a family get together. It was a toss up between this recipe and another one using frozen corn. So I made both and without a doubt, this recipe is superior. So moist and sweet--the best! Definitely a keeper--thanks!

4 users found this review helpful

Reviewed on Jan. 16, 2007 by HWINTERS My mom used to make Johnny Cake when I was a kid. I was craving some comfort food the other day and thought of this. I couldn't find my mom's recipe so I used this one. Don't tell mom but I think this one is better. It is light, tastey

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mystik 14 years ago said:

I think the one that comes closest is the Johnny Cakes one listed above. Nothing like warm johnny cake with some melted butter and REAL maple syrup on a cool Fall morning! Thanks for all the help - I'm definitely going to be trying that one on the weekend.

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recipediva 14 years ago said:

I just found it on line. I never had johnny cake. But let me know how it is. Just wanted to help you find it.

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strollernut 14 years ago said:

We ate the same thing for breakfast growing up, only with honey on it instead of syrup. You'd split a slice open in a cereal bowl, spread butter and then squirt some honey on it, and then pour fresh milk over top and eat hot. My husband thinks this is the weirdest breakfast ever, but it's delicious--now I'm craving it! LOL
Here's my grandmother's recipe and the one I use.

Johnny Cake:

*Sift together:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

*Stir in:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
*In a small bowl, beat:
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

*Add to flour mixture and stir just until moistened--EVEN IF IT IS LUMPY--don't over stir.
*Pour into a well greased 9x9 pan and bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes.
*Cut into squares and serve hot with butter, honey, and milk poured over.
...Leftovers are good for a snack too, it's good a little stale :)

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