Old Fashioned Johnny Cake Recipes

PA'S OLD-FASHIONED JOHNNY CAKE / CORNBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425; grease a 13x9 pan.
• Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl, stir through, make a well in the center.
• In another bowl, add eggs, milk, and oil all at once; blend well.
• Add wet to dry ingredients, stir until moistened (don't over-mix or you'll be sorry!).
• Fold in optional ingredients. Sausage should be in crumbles or bite-size pieces.
• Pour into prepared pan; rap pan on counter-top several times to bounce out the air-bubbles.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes--top will be golden-brown.
• Serve with butter and maple syrup.
• OPTION #1: Add 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese.
• OPTION #2: Add 1/2 - 1 cup of sweet corn (plain kernels); adds a neat "chewy" texture to the 'cake.'
• OPTION #3: Add 6 hard-boiled, chopped eggs.
• OPTION #4: Add 1 pound fried & drained pork sausage (crumbled) or links (bite-size).
• TIME-SAVING HINT: Gather a handful of 1-quart zipper bags, fill with DRY ingredients, and store in your cupboard. At meal-time, add wet ingredients as described.

OLD-FASHIONED JOHNNY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
• Sift cornmeal and flour together and spread thinly on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until lightly brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool. Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, combine cornmeal mixture, salt, sugar and baking powder. Pour in shortening and milk; stir to blend.
• In a separate large bowl, beat egg white until stiff. In a third bowl, beat egg yolk then fold into egg white. Gently stir flour mixture into beaten egg. Pour into prepared baking pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden brown.

JOHNNY CAKE

Steps:

• 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.

JOHNNY CAKES MADE EASY! (AND GOOD:)

Steps:

• Whisk together cornmeal, salt and sugar (if used).
• Bring water to a boil and pour over the meal mixture, whisking to prevent lumps. Let the batter rest 10 minutes.
• Butter a large skillet or griddle and bring it to about 375 degrees, just to a sizzle (do not burn the butter).
• Add enough milk (1/2 to a cup) to the batter to make it the consistency of mashed potatoes, and drop by spoonfuls to make cakes about 2 or 3 inches wide and several inches apart (they will spread).
• Let the cakes gently sizzle on the grill for about 6 minutes or as long as 11 minutes until you bring them to a deep golden brown on the bottom and slightly firm on the top, before turning them over.
• Add some more butter to the griddle, and/or place a thin pat of butter on each cake, before turning them over and cooking for another 6 minutes (or longer) until they are a deep golden brown color.
• Serve with butter and and honey, or maple syrup.

OLD FASHION JOHNNY CAKE

Steps:

• Directions: Sift together dry ingredients. Rub in a piece of butter Stir in egg and milk; batter may be slightly lumpy. Turn into greased 8 by 8-inch baking pan; bake about 1/2 hour at 375 F. or until inserted pick comes out clean. (In pioneer days, they might stir in some dried berries before baking.)