Johnnie cakes

[tombear]

Looking for something a bit nicer than hardtack and different to bannock or damper I did a bit of poking about on the net for recipes for Johnnie cakes, as beloved in the south of the US.

there where so many variations I decided to make my own which were very filling and went down well with the whole family.

Mix the dry ingredients first

2 cups medium yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup plain white flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 level tea spoons of baking powder
1 table spoon of sugar

Then I beat a large egg into a cup of milk and chucked that in and mixed that into the dry ingredients. I then progressively beat in 3/4s of a cup of milk until I had a batter you could pour, it may take a bit more or less depending on your own preference.

I then poured about half a cup of the goo into a well oiled (beef dripping would have been better and I've since got some for the next time) frying pan on a low to medium heat, flipping when you could see the edges browning.

We had them with variations, according to taste, of lemon, sugar, jam and milk. I think they would be rather fine with berries and thick cream or ice cream.

They are very filling and I had trouble eating two of them. For packing I will substitute egg powder for the fresh egg and pre mix in a ziplock, I'm not sure how well milk powder would do?...

ATB

Tom

 

[TeeDee]

Sounds interesting , I 'll have to give it a go.

< Psst! She missed one "milk poder".. She thinks she smart, but we Know we are Smarter! >

 

[Harvestman]

< Psst! I counted 5. >

(As if I never make mistakes. Yeah, right)

Nice recipe. I'll be giving it a try. Thanks.

 

[Dave]

Tried all of this stuff over time.

I am assuming they did not have packets of yeast available back yonder?

Because, I did all of that myself for years, before finally deciding that a few simple food bags, filled with a mix of flour salt and yeast, with a bit of kneading, and time, create, a better loaf than most supermarkets sell.

Buy a dutch oven?

 

[addo]

Cheers, I've been playing around with a few recipes lately and been meaning to include cornflour.
If im not in cake/scone or batter mode I now prefer Flour, water and salt, kead a dough for 5 mins, streatch out and fill with cheese and tom puree. Fold over and cook in a pan over the fire with some flour instead of oil. Its very yummy, and the flat bread tastes very nice even though its simple, due to the kead.

 

[tombear]

Oh she didn't actually check that one so I needn't have bothered! :-{D) Sometimes I go all East Midlands on her and wind her up horribly

Just made another batch as dessert with various berries, lemon and cream so thick you can sculpt it! You definately get a lighter cake if you make it runnier by adding more liquid.

They are very quick to make unlike anything raised with yeast.

I do like baking Bead outdoors but I wouldn't touch a Dutch Oven as I was introduced to these a few years back

Aussie camp ovens made from heavy gauge spun steel. About as heavy as a Dutch but bullet proof, have proper deep lids for covering in coals and without the stubby little legs that make packing awkward. I love them to bits. The only downer is you have to get someone in Oz to ship them to you.

Yeah, I know the sandals were dumb but I was lucky!

The flat bread with cheese and tom sounds good, will have to try that! Years back I used to bake the wife pizza cobs for her packing up, all the normal pizza topping ingrediants folded inside the risen bread before being baked.

ATB

Tom