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Printable recipe below! We're taking a trip back to the colonial times to celebrate America's 250 years! This video is the first in our new series, exploring American history and the people who built this nation. This episode we are serving up America's first breakfast recipe, Johnny cakes, or hoe cakes and the history that goes along.
Used in this video:
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Cowboy Hat: Chazhatz.com
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Printable Recipe: https://kentrollins.com/blogs/dessert/johnny-cakes
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0:00
Hear ye, hear ye.
0:02
We are [music] hitching up the wagon,
0:04
going back to the colonial times, and
0:06
celebrating the birth of this great
0:08
nation. Before pancakes, before waffles,
0:11
before any breakfast you ever had, there
0:14
was this.
0:16
This is [music] the first video in our
0:18
America's 250 years series, and we're
0:21
going to spend the next 4 weeks telling
0:22
the stories of the food and the people
0:24
that [music] built this country, and
0:26
sharing stories you've never heard
0:28
before in honor of the upcoming 250th
0:31
birthday of our great nation. And today
0:34
on the menu, it's Johnny Cakes.
0:43
Good morning to you all and welcome into
0:46
the camp. We're so excited to share
0:48
these next [music] upcoming videos with
0:50
y'all because it is about celebrating
0:52
America's birthday. And from the
0:54
colonial settlements all the way to the
0:56
Revolutionary War, this was America's
0:59
breakfast. It was so simple, cornmeal,
1:02
water, salt. And if it was good enough
1:05
to feed them soldiers on the march and
1:06
get families through hard times,
1:09
it's good enough for us to cook today
1:11
and I still enjoy it. Now, when we're
1:13
talking about Johnny Cakes, remember
1:15
this recipe was simple, but it had to be
1:17
able to be transported. Had to be in a
1:20
pack. Had to be able to where they could
1:21
just move with the soldiers everywhere
1:23
they went.
1:24
Water,
1:25
cornmeal, salt. That's it. Put it
1:28
together, put it in a skillet, fry it
1:30
up. But before the soldiers ever got
1:33
here, way before the Revolutionary War,
1:35
the Native Americans had been growing
1:37
corn for thousands of years, and they
1:40
figured out how to grind it and use it
1:42
in multiple things from flatbread to
1:44
little cakes, even cereal, and sometimes
1:46
even drinks.
1:48
When all the foreigners come over across
1:50
the ocean
1:51
and wanted to settle here, what did they
1:52
bring? Wheat. But wheat didn't grow here
1:55
very well because it was diseased. They
1:57
didn't know how to plant it right. They
1:58
didn't know how to grow it right. So,
2:00
the Indians taught them. Let's grind
2:02
some corn. Coarse ground makes the best
2:05
Johnny cakes. Now, through the ages and
2:07
after the Revolutionary War, this recipe
2:09
even begin to modify and change as it
2:12
went across the countryside. Now,
2:15
canned milk is what I'm going to use
2:16
today in replacement of water because
2:19
canned milk come about in the 1850s.
2:21
People starting adding little lard,
2:22
little oil, even little baking powder to
2:25
give it a rising agent. So, we're going
2:26
to do all that today. We started out
2:28
with some all-purpose flour,
2:31
some yellow cornmeal,
2:35
a little bit of that baking powder. Now,
2:38
when I was researching this recipe, a
2:40
lot of the things that stood out to me
2:42
was it really was the Shawnee tribe that
2:44
first sort of brought this about. We're
2:46
going to add a little salt.
2:50
So, we really need to tip our hat to the
2:52
Native Americans that brought this about
2:54
to share it with all the rest of us.
2:58
Now, I don't have coarse ground cornmeal
3:01
today, but if you can get it and you
3:03
want to remake this recipe, it is going
3:05
to make you a better Johnny cake. To
3:07
that, they added water.
3:10
We're going to use what? Some canned
3:12
milk.
3:14
We use this on the wagon so much because
3:16
it requires no refrigeration
3:19
and it lasts a long time and I really
3:21
just think that canned milk has a better
3:23
flavor to me.
3:25
This egg was so ready that it was
3:26
already cracked when it made the trip.
3:29
We're going to pour him in there. Here
3:30
you go, possum.
3:38
So, in they go.
3:41
Now, they didn't have eggs back then.
3:43
And what do eggs do when you add this in
3:45
there now?
3:46
Lighter, little more fluff, little more
3:48
flavor, I think. Because, hey, I do love
3:51
a egg in something. Now, when you mixing
3:53
this up,
3:55
I start out with the least amount of
3:57
milk that I can have and then I'm going
3:58
to add to it to get the batter to a
4:00
consistency that I want. I'm going to
4:02
add a little more milk to this because
4:05
we need In fact, I'm just going to
4:06
measure. I'm going to have it like a
4:08
quarter of a cup more.
4:10
Pour around in here just a little. Now,
4:13
you can switch to a spoon if you want.
4:15
I'm going to try to get this into a sort
4:17
of a really thick batter form.
4:21
Just a little more milk. Now, we don't
4:24
want this to be like pancake batter.
4:27
You want to get this to a consistency
4:29
that's about like cake batter.
4:31
Cuz we got to be able for it to pour out
4:33
of a fourth of a cup measure into some
4:35
hot grease.
4:52
Now, back during the time that they were
4:53
at Valley Forge, they would have had a
4:55
fire going. They would have cooked this
4:57
over hot coals or even an open fire. Me,
5:01
I'm in a burn ban. I can't have no
5:03
charcoal, no wood, no fire, no nothing.
5:04
So, we're just using the propane. But
5:07
also, they might have cooked them in a
5:09
flat bladed spade, what is known as a
5:11
shovel today. Or remember when it was
5:13
called a hoe cake? Get that hoe hot in
5:16
there. Just flop it on there with a
5:17
spoon because they would have just dug
5:19
this out, flopped it in there, and let
5:22
[clears throat] it go. Me, we're going
5:23
to get a little more precise today and
5:26
we're going to use a little cup measure.
5:28
Bacon grease and butter, who don't love
5:31
that stuff? I mean, George Washington
5:33
and all the soldiers would have said,
5:36
"Oh my gosh, bacon grease." So, I'm
5:39
going to give you a little trick to
5:40
doing this so it don't just stick to
5:42
everything you got.
5:44
Get your measuring cup.
5:46
Give it a little greasing.
5:50
Reach down in here.
5:52
And then hope that it comes out of
5:54
there.
5:55
There it did. Flopped right in there
5:57
like it's supposed to. Grease your
5:59
device every time.
6:03
Or if you want to use a spoon,
6:05
you want to make them bigger, smaller,
6:07
that's up to you.
6:10
I'm going to fry two at a time.
6:14
Now we're This is sort of like cooking
6:16
pancakes now, but these are a little
6:17
more dense than what a pancake is. So,
6:20
you can see how they begin to bubble up
6:22
here on the edge. I guarantee you as
6:25
we're going to turn this one over to
6:26
take a sneak peek, he has already
6:28
probably nearly formed a crust. Looky
6:31
there, he has. Johnny come, come on,
6:33
baby, make a johnny cake. Whoop, whoop.
6:36
I like a johnny cake. They're easier
6:38
than pancakes because they stay together
6:40
better. Here it comes again.
6:43
Oh my gosh.
6:45
See how these have fluffed up? And you
6:47
can pick this up here a little. Let's
6:48
look.
6:49
How brown do you want them? I want mine
6:51
a little browner than that. I want it
6:52
sort of this color all the way around.
6:55
Here's another.
6:57
We're going to flip this and back over
6:58
just a minute.
7:00
Give him a little
7:01
Folks,
7:02
that right there is celebrating America.
7:05
This is the winter of 1777,
7:08
Valley Forge, [music] Pennsylvania.
7:10
Washington's army is starving. The
7:12
British army in Philadelphia is just 18
7:15
miles away, and they're [music] eating
7:17
like kings in warm barracks, full meals,
7:20
fine wine. Meanwhile, 11,000 Continental
7:24
soldiers [music] are living in mud huts
7:26
they built themselves with their bare
7:27
hands. 2,000 of them will die that
7:31
winter, most from typhus and pneumonia,
7:33
not battle. The ones who survive are
7:36
eating one thing consistently, cornmeal
7:38
cakes [music] cooked on flat rocks or
7:40
over open fires. Soldiers called them
7:43
journey cakes [music] because it was
7:44
food you could make on the march.
7:46
Depending on the area, they were also
7:48
[music] called Johnny cakes or hoe
7:50
cakes, named for the farming hoe blade
7:52
that they were sometimes cooked on when
7:54
there was nothing else flat enough. The
7:56
Continental Army had almost [music] no
7:58
professional soldiers. Most of these men
8:01
were farmers, tradesmen, teenagers, and
8:03
they'd [music] never fought a war. But
8:05
they knew how to cook cornmeal over an
8:07
open fire cuz that's what the American
8:08
[music] families ate. By spring, they
8:11
marched out of Valley Forge and within 3
8:13
years, the war was won and all of it
8:16
started with cornmeal and fire. Now,
8:18
regarding the name, nobody actually
8:20
knows for certain where the name came
8:22
from. Historians have identified three
8:24
equally [music] plausible theories. A
8:26
slurred adaptation of journey cakes, a
8:30
corruption of Shawnee [music] cakes, and
8:32
the indigenous word genican, meaning
8:35
corn cakes. And each has an equal claim
8:37
to being the origin.
8:50
>> [music]
8:57
[music]
8:57
>> Give them a little touch every once in a
8:59
while there just to make sure that it's
9:00
not going to sink right in. You [music]
9:02
want that crust set up, but you want it
9:03
to be cooked in the middle. And also
9:05
make sure your grease doesn't get too
9:07
hot because you don't want to burn these
9:08
little rascals. Cuz you they will if
9:11
they get a chance.
9:20
>> [music]
9:22
>> George Washington himself ate hoe cakes.
9:25
His version of Johnny cakes every single
9:28
morning for breakfast, [music]
9:29
slathered in butter and honey. The name
9:31
Johnny cake was first written [music]
9:33
down in 1739.
9:35
That's almost 40 years before the
9:37
Declaration of Independence [music] was
9:38
signed. This recipe is older than
9:40
America itself and still just as good.
9:50
>> [music]
9:55
>> Now, ain't this the proper colonial way
9:58
to start your breakfast? But even more
10:00
than that, start your breakfast this way
10:02
today in the right here in the good old
10:04
America. I don't know which is proper.
10:06
Shanda, you eat left-handed or
10:07
right-handed back in
10:08
>> just take a moment and acknowledge the
10:11
outfit?
10:12
>> [laughter]
10:14
[sighs]
10:15
>> The wig is good.
10:16
>> I really like the hat. Let's try us a
10:19
Johnnycake. Now,
10:20
we put molasses on this because I think
10:22
this is more traditional to
10:24
farm-wise, rural-wise, all the ways back
10:27
in then. But you could use honey, you
10:29
could use syrup. Me, I like me some
10:33
molasses. It used to sit on the table
10:35
all the time at home and it was two
10:37
kinds. There was blackstrap molasses and
10:40
Br'er Rabbit. Leave me a comment if you
10:42
ever seen one of them on y'all's table.
10:50
Very tasty they are. Makes me want to do
10:53
a colonial waltz.
11:00
>> [music]
11:02
>> The thing that jumps out at me right at
11:03
the first that makes me proud and want
11:05
to play the flute and march down the
11:07
parade singing the Star-Spangled Banner
11:10
is the way the cornmeal crusted up in
11:12
that bacon grease and butter.
11:14
But when you cut into there, everything
11:16
is oh so good and the molasses gives it
11:19
just a little hint of sweetness. Not
11:22
overpowering, but just the right amount.
11:24
And this is a great switch out for
11:26
pancakes. Y'all try it. Let us know what
11:28
you think. One little tip I will give
11:30
you, do not cook them on too high heat.
11:32
You'll be brown on both sides, looking
11:34
good, and raw in the middle. So, slow it
11:36
down. Medium low heat, you'll get the
11:37
best. But, everybody's been on me last
11:40
two videos, "Shan didn't get a bite.
11:42
Shan didn't get a bite." She's going to
11:43
get a Johnny cake bite with a little bit
11:45
of molasses.
11:46
>> I don't like molasses.
11:47
>> Yeah, but it'll be good. There's not
11:48
much on there.
11:51
And it blends well with that flavor.
11:53
Your honest opinion now.
11:55
Betsy Ross.
11:57
>> They are a great switch for a pancake.
12:00
>> Yeah. Now, don't y'all forget, this is
12:01
the first video in a 4-week-long series
12:04
celebrating America's 250th birthday.
12:08
Be sure you watch each and every one of
12:10
them. But, it is with pride, honor, and
12:13
privilege that I tip my hat to all the
12:15
servicemen and women and all the
12:16
veterans that have kept that old flag
12:18
flying over camp. We commend you all and
12:20
we lift you up in prayer daily. And for
12:22
all our ancestors who might have been up
12:24
there in them times of the Revolutionary
12:25
War, going through all them hard times,
12:27
we salute y'all as well. God bless you
12:30
each and every one. I hope you like my
12:32
outfit, and we'll see you down the
12:33
Johnny Cake trail.
12:40
>> How do you feel?
12:42
>> Very colonial.
12:43
>> Okay, now you're going to put on your
12:45
wig.
12:47
>> Made you [laughter] look.
12:48
Look at this.
12:50
No, it's not nothing to eat, darlin'.
12:53
>> Uh-oh, this is looking good.
12:57
You got like a bald spot right here.
12:59
Let's fluff that. Need teeth.
13:01
>> on.
13:03
Across the Delaware we go.
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