Molasses Corn Cake
Awaiting Trial Recipe version 1 · Filed by the Court (seed pool) · Adapted from 'Molasses Corn Cake' — Farmers' Bulletin 565, 'Corn Meal as a Food and Ways of Using It,' USDA, issued Jan. 22, 1914, revised Sept. 1917 (public domain, U.S. federal work). Measures and oven temperatures modernized. Conversion: the original's 1 cup wheat flour (125 g) is swapped straight for a gum-containing 1:1 blend at the same weight (USDA basis 125 g/cup); no other change. One quantity disclosure: the sweet-milk fraction is partly obscured in the surviving archive.org text and is given as 2/3 cup, which produces the shallow-pan batter the method describes. Distinct from the pool's Cornbread — molasses-sweetened, soda-leavened, and built on a 25-minute pre-cook.
Cornmeal, molasses, sugar, and both sour and sweet milk are cooked together for a full 25 minutes before the flour, soda, and egg go in. The long pre-cook is the recipe — it melts the meal into the batter and gives a dark, moist, keeping cake.
Why this complexity: Batter base is pre-cooked 25 minutes in a double boiler.
Ingredients
- 125 g gluten-free 1:1 baking blend (with gum) (about 1 cup), for the original 1 cup wheat flour (125 g, USDA basis)
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus more for the pan
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour milk
- 2/3 cup sweet milk (the surviving text's fraction is partly obscured; 2/3 cup gives the batter the original describes)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 large egg, well beaten
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F (a moderate oven). Butter a shallow pan.
- Mix the cornmeal, molasses, sugar, butter, salt, sour milk, and sweet milk in a double boiler and cook over hot water for about 25 minutes after the mixture has become hot, stirring now and then.
- Let cool until lukewarm.
- Sift the blend and soda together and stir in, then the beaten egg. Beat thoroughly.
- Pour into the prepared pan and make about 30 minutes, until firm and pulling away from the sides. Serve warm or cold.
The verdict so far
No testimony yet. This recipe is Awaiting Trial — the empty docket is the invitation. Make it and file the first report.
Testimony
No testimony on the record yet.