Cast Iron Johnnycakes

This is one of those family recipes dating back a long time...but because it's not in a box mix at the supermarket, few people today know about it. Actually, it is available in a box mix...namely cornbread mix. Johnny cakes are cornbread pancakes. This recipe produces a good cornbread batter...but instead of baking it into the oven, you drop scoops of the batter into a hot cast iron pan, and fry them, to produce a thick, round cake that looks like a pancake...except that it's a cornbread.
However, this recipe is easier to make...and especially easier to cook...than traditional pancakes. When you make pancakes, you have to be careful not to burn them, so you don't end up[ with pancakes that are burned on the outside but still gooey and undercooked inside. While it's still possible to burn johnny cakes, the batter seen here is made to be fried in a skillet at high heat, and it's much more difficult to burn.
This dish goes by many names, though in the Nothern United States (especially in New England) it's known as "johnnycakes," while in the Southern United States it's best known as "hoecakes." The legend of the origin of hoecakes states they were cooked on the back side of a gardern hoe, though of course there's no real evidence for this. In the early United States there was indeed a cast iron cooking pan called a "hoe," and this is almost certainly where the term "hoecake" actually originated.
Pans needed: Of course, it's mandatory that these cakes need to be made in a cast iron pan. This can be a skillet, griddle, or any convenient flat iron surface.

Ingredients

6 johnnycakes

Dry Ingredients

  • 1 cup masa harina corn flour, or regular all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup fine cornmeal
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 2 large eggs
  • ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • If buttermilk is not available, use 1 cup whole milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar.
  • About 1/2 cup milk
  • 2-3 tablespoons frying oil (corn oil or canola oil work best)
The major difference between cornbread pancakes and traditional flour pancakes is that cornbread pancakes are cooked at higher heat than flour pancakes! Place the cast iron skillet (or griddle) on your stovetop burner. Turn the stovetop heat to medium, or number 5 on a 1-to-10 setting, so the knob is at about the halfway setting. Let the skillet heat at this level for at least five or six minutes. This will allow the entire pan to heat more evenly. If you simply place the pan on the stovetop and crank it up to high, there will be a very hot spot in the center and the edges will be much less hot. This is why it is important to slowly heat the pan to the right temperature.
Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a separate dish (or another cast iron skillet), and let the butter cool off.
Mix together dry ingredients: masa flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder, salt. Be sure to whisk the dry ingredients together to incorporate air into the batter. This will help batter puff up and give good fluffy cakes.
From here, add the wet ingredients. Beat two eggs and add them to the bowl, along with melted butter. Add about 1 cup of buttermilk. Begin mixing it all into a batter, though the batter will be very thick at this point. Start adding additional milk to the batter, a little at a time, as you stir the batter. Keep mixing in the milk a little at a time, until the batter is just the right consistency. This batter will be much more thick than modern pancake batter.
Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil to the hot cast iron skillet, and wait about one minute for the oil to heat up. Using a measuring cup of 1/3 cup size, add 1/3 cup of batter to the pan for each johnnycake. Because this batter is so thick, you will need to use a spatula to spread each cake slightly and press it down to about 1/2 inch thickness. Do not move the cakes when they are first added to the pan. Let the cakes fry in the oil for at least three minutes before attempting to flip them. Because these cakes are dense, they should be easy to flip. After flipping, wait another two to three minutes for the second side to fully cook.
Add more oil to the pan before adding each batch of johnnycakes.
When johnnycakes are ready, serve with butter and maple syrup.
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