Johnnycakes
Among America's oldest pancakes: small cakes of white cornmeal scalded with boiling water and fried in butter until crisp. Native peoples of New England baked similar corn cakes long before Europeans arrived, and the settlers adopted the recipe. Today they are a Rhode Island speciality, eaten with butter and maple syrup. They contain no eggs or wheat flour. What matters most is scalding the cornmeal with boiling water — that keeps them soft inside and crisp outside.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Scalding the cornmeal 10 min
- Batter 3 min
- Frying 22 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMix cornmeal with salt and sugar
In a bowl mix the cornmeal with the salt and sugar.
Ingredients: 150 g white cornmeal, finely ground · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar · 250 ml boiling water · 60 ml milk
Scald with boiling water
Pour boiling water over the cornmeal and stir quickly into a thick mush. The boiling water gelatinises the starch — the cakes turn soft inside rather than gritty.
Ingredients: 150 g white cornmeal, finely ground · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar · 250 ml boiling water · 60 ml milk
Boiling water on the cornmeal — no more gritty centre.Rest 10 minutes
Cover the bowl and leave 10 minutes, until the cornmeal absorbs all the water and the mixture thickens.
Ingredients: 150 g white cornmeal, finely ground · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar · 250 ml boiling water · 60 ml milk
Thin with milk
Stir in the milk a spoonful at a time, until the batter is like thick porridge — spoonable and spreading slightly.
Ingredients: 150 g white cornmeal, finely ground · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar · 250 ml boiling water · 60 ml milk
Heat the pan with butter
Heat a cast iron pan or griddle over medium heat and melt a spoon of butter on it. Johnnycakes fry longer than ordinary pancakes, so the heat must not be too high.
Ingredients: 30 g butter · 60 ml maple syrup
Spoon out the cakes
Spoon the batter onto the pan and flatten lightly into cakes about 7 cm across and 1 cm thick.
Ingredients: 150 g white cornmeal, finely ground · ½ tsp salt · 1 tsp sugar · 250 ml boiling water · 60 ml milk
By the spoonful, lightly flattened — about 7 cm.Fry slowly until golden
Fry 5–6 minutes a side, until deep golden and crisp. Flip only when the underside comes away from the pan easily — too early and they break. Fry in two batches, about 22 minutes in all, adding butter between them.
Ingredients: 30 g butter · 60 ml maple syrup
Flip when the underside releases itself.Serve with butter and syrup
Serve hot, with a knob of butter and maple syrup. They are also served savoury, as a side dish.
Ingredients: 30 g butter · 60 ml maple syrup
Before you start
Which cornmeal
Traditionally, stone-ground white corn, finely milled, is used. Yellow cornmeal works too — the cakes are yellower and taste more of corn.
Thinner cakes
Thick cakes scalded with boiling water are the South County style, from the south of the state. Around Newport, thin, lacy johnnycakes are made from a runny batter with cold milk. Both versions are classic.
Gluten-free
The cakes are naturally gluten-free, provided the cornmeal is labelled gluten-free — it is sometimes milled alongside wheat.
