Hoe Cakes

Photo courtesy of Shockingly Tasty and Creative Commons 

Yes ladies and gentlemen, hoe cakes, a favorite food of George Washington. You read that correctly. According to the History Channel, a book titled Dining with the Washington's claims that hoe cakes  "swimming in butter or honey" were the favorite breakfast of the first president of the United States.

A hoe cake, is much less calamitous than it sounds. Essentially it is a corn meal pancake. It uses the term hoe in reference to the fact that they could be cooked over an open fire on the back of a hoe, the gardening tool. Hoe cakes are often called Johnny cakes as well.

If you are an adventurous pancake lover, you will be relieved to know that recipes for hoe cakes are still widely available. Below is the History Channel's take on an authentic Washington hoe cake. If you would like to try something more modern try Paul Deen's recipe.

Authentic Washington’s Hoe Cakes
Makes about 4 servings and takes 35 minutes, plus at least 8 hours and 20 minutes for resting the batter. (Just be glad you don’t have to keep the fire going while you’re at it! I’ve done that too, and it takes tending.)

½ teaspoon active dry yeast
2 ½ cups white cornmeal
3-4 cups lukewarm water
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
Melted butter for drizzling and serving
Honey or maple syrup for serving

In a large bowl, mix the yeast with 11/4 cups cornmeal, then pour in 1 cup warm water, and combine thoroughly. Now stir in ½ cup more water. The mixture should be like pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Are you awake? Ready to finish the hoe cakes?

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F and have a nice platter or large plate ready. This is so you can keep the first hoe cakes warm while you prepare the rest of the batter.

Add ½ to 3/4-cup lukewarm water to the batter, stir well, and cover bowl with a damp towel. Let rest for about 20 minutes.

Heat griddle to medium high and grease with lard, bacon fat or other shortening. Drop a scant ¼ cup of batter on the griddle, and cook on one side until brown. Flip the hoe cake to brown on the other side. Place on platter, drizzle with a little butter and put platter in the warm oven. Add each hoe cake as it is finished so that you have a nice pile, each one drizzled with butter, to place on the table. Serve with melted butter and honey or maple syrup.