You don't have to wait for May Breakfast. Make your own jonnycakes
Making your own jonnycakes, a Rhode Island staple, is easy.
Virtually every family, and church kitchen has their own interpretation of the jonnycake. They are always made with grain from local grist mills. Cornmeal is the key.
There are literally hundreds of ways to mix up jonnycakes. The most common thing you'd hear in a kitchen is “My grandma did it this way." Old-time recipes are more of a formula, with the amounts being eyeballed rather than measured.
The first recipe comes from the historic Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol. They started making the jonnycakes in cast iron pans there 50 years ago. They shared their recipe in 2018. What's different here is they use water not milk. It makes a lighter cake.
The second comes from the 2010 cookbook, "United Cakes of America" By Warren Brown which shared a cake recipe from each state. Rhode Island's entry was the "Johnnycake." Yes, I think that's weird, too.
Coggeshall Farm Museum's Jonnycakes
1 stick butter
2½ cups Rhode Island white cornmeal
2-3 cups hot water (enough to make thin pancake consistency)
¼ to 1/3 cup molasses
1 large pinch salt
Freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
Place softened butter in a bowl. Add cornmeal, then the hot water gradually until batter is a thin pancake consistency. Add molasses and salt and stir well.
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Optional: Add spices such as cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, clove or orange zest.
To cook, pour small amounts of batter on a hot greased cast iron skillet or griddle and cook until golden brown.
Serve with honey or maple syrup.
Warren Brown's Johnnycakes
6 ounces (1 cup) white or yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1 egg (optional)
About 1/2 cup milk
Unsalted butter for the skillet
Maple syrup for serving
Combine the cornmeal, salt, and boiling water in a bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium to high heat.
Whisk the egg into the cornmeal if you are using one. Stir in enough milk to make the batter pourable.
Put the butter in the skillet and heat until it's just hot enough to cause the batter to gently sizzle. Carefully pour or ladle enough batter into the skillet to make a 3- to 4-inch pancake.
Cook for several minutes until bubbles appear on the top. Place a small dab of butter on the top and then flip the cake. Continue to cook for about 1 minute. Johnnycakes are very thin, so they'll cook quickly.
Serve warm with maple syrup or wrap for later and eat at room temperature.
Makes about 9 johnnycakes.
From "United Cakes of America" By Warren Brown (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2010)
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: How to make jonnycakes: Recipe shared by Coggeshall Farm in Bristol
