The best of both worlds -- corn pancakes. They're a combination of pancake batter and Johnny cake batter mixed together in one bowl to make: corn pancakes. They're wonderful -- slightly sweeter and considerably-lighter than typical Johnny cakes. In a perfect world, I'd get up in the wee hours of the AM and make 'em from scratch. Well, newsflash, it's not a perfect world, and, I can still make a great corn pancake breakfast by combining store-bought pancake mix and store-bought corn-muffin mix. No eye rolling please -- once you stick a fork in one of these and take a taste, the outlook on the day ahead of you is going to improve. Served with pure maple syrup and country sausage -- early morning breakfast perfection with no stress and no mess.
Johnnycakes. The precursor to American pancakes.
Dating back to the early 1600's, Johnny cakes are said to be the precursor to the pancake. The origin of the name is a mystery, and, likely has nothing to do with the name John. We know they were originally called journey cakes because they were packed into saddlebags to take on long trips. They were sometimes called ash cakes, because they could be baked or reheated in the hot embers of a fire, and, hoe cakes, are ash cakes that are placed on a hoe and also cooked over a fire. Corn cakes were first made by Native Americans, who called them janiken, and that sounds suspiciously close to Johnny cake to me. They used ground corn as an ingredient in a lot of their food, and some historians believe it was the colonists who slurred the words "Shawnee cakes" into "Johnny cakes". It's no surprise that these cornmeal cakes are associated with New England, as it was the Native Americans who taught the Pilgrims how to grind corn (because their supply of wheat flour had spoiled during their voyage from England) back in 1620.
In their purest form, Johnny cakes are made from yellow or white corn meal, boiling water, salt and sometimes sugar. The corn meal gives them their unique, kinda gritty dense texture, but, they get most of their flavor from what they are cooked in, so, bacon drippings or butter, or either, combined with some oil are always used. The batter has the consistency of loose mashed potatoes, and, while many versions contain milk and egg, unlike pancakes they don't contain any leavening (baking powder or baking soda), which is great because you can mix 'em in advance.
Corn pancakes. Light like pancakes w/the flavor of corncakes:
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
1 large egg
3/4 cup Aunt Jemima original pancake & waffle mix
1/2 cup Jiffy corn muffin mix
corn or vegetable oil, for frying
salted butter pats, for topping pancakes
pure maple syrup, for drizzling over pancakes
country sausage patties, for accompaniment
~Step 1. To make the batter, in a 2-cup measuring container, place and whisk together the milk (or buttermilk) and egg. Measure and add the dry Jiffy mix mixture to the wet mixture and whisk it in. Measure and add the dry pancake mix to the wet mixture and whisk it in -- there is no need to worry about getting out all of the lumps. Cover and set the batter aside for about 5-10 minutes. Afterward, check the consistency, and, if the mix seems too thick, whisk in a splash of milk or buttermilk.
~Step 2. To cook/fry the corn pancakes, in any size nonstick skillet, place a thin coating of corn or vegetable oil. Place skillet over medium- medium-high heat. For each pancake, pour about 4 tablespoons batter into the hot the oil. The pancake will form itself. Once bubbles form across the surface, and the perimeter of the pancake looks slightly-dryer than the middle, use a spatula to flip the pancake over -- this will take about 1 1/2-2 minutes. After flipping, cook pancake on the second side, for about 1-1 1/2 minutes. Pancakes will be lightly golden with slightly-crispy edges.
Note: For evenly-shaped, evenly-cooked pancakes, I like to fry them individually, in 1-2, 8" skillets -- two skillets on the stovetop at once. After each 1-2 cook, I add a splash of additional oil to each pan, and, continue to cook until all of the batter has been used. Try it my way -- each pancake comes out perfect every time. Trust me -- one pancake per skillet is the ticket to perfection.
Tea for two & two for tea & two of everything for me:
In a Jiffy Corn Pancake & Sausage Patty Breakfast: Recipe yields 10, 3 1/2"-4" round corn pancakes/2-4 servings.
Special Equipment List: 2-cup measuring container; whisk; 8" nonstick skillet; 2-ounce ladle; spatula
Cook's Note: Sausage and eggs. It might sound kind-of run-of-the-mill, but, when the sausage is homemade, and the eggs are fried in the luscious sausage drippings, it's remarkable. And newsflash: While making breakfast sausage is not quite as easy as picking up a package of loose or link sausage at the store, it's pretty darn close, AND, trust me, after one taste of, you'll never look at store-bought the same way again. Period. Try ~ Mel's Herbaceous All-Purpose Breakfast Sausage ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2021)
Comments