Rare Southern Hoe Cake Recipe
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If you like biscuits, you’re guaranteed to love this rare but delectable recipe for southern hoe cake.
Hoe cake (also known as a Johnny cake) seems to be a rather elusive recipe, even among southerners. Apart from my own, I have only one friend whose family still makes it. Even among us though, the variations are vast. His family makes their cornmeal hoe cakes using cornmeal and buttermilk, as seems to be the custom among recipes found on the web. While this style of generally resembles a , a is typically fluffier and doesn’t include . Meanwhile, my family’s version uses flour and produces a bread that looks like buttermilk biscuits, but with a lighter and fluffier texture and crispy coating.
Either way you look at it, hoe cake is revered by those who know of it. I am sure its origin sprang forth much like the rest of our classic southern dishes – too little time and too few ingredients. While it is a simple food to make, it will easily take over the starring role at your dinner table.
I can honestly say that this is a rare recipe for Southern hoe cakes, having searched and not found it anywhere online. I do hope you will try it and guarantee that if you like biscuits, you’ll love our southern hoe cake recipe. Serve your hoe cake as a side dish with maple syrup, apple butter, or butter with a drizzle of honey or sprinkle of sugar. It tastes best accompanying your favorite Southern-style main meal. I recommend fried chicken, chicken and gravy (use the hoe cake to soak up the gravy, yum), North Alabama-style pulled BBQ chicken, or pork chops.
Recipe ingredients
Recipe ingredients- Self-rising flour. If you don’t have self rising flour where you are, go here for the formula of how to make your own.
- Vegetable shortening
- Whole milk
Helpful Kitchen Tools
Combine two cups of self-rising flour and 1/2 cup of shortening in a .
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil into the bottom of a cake pan.
This is where the old folks use a cast iron skillet like you would make cornbread. However, at the time of this tutorial, Mama had yet to hand down a cast iron skillet to me so I figured a cake pan with a wee bit of wear on it is just as good. Either way, you’re going to add enough oil to cover the bottom of your cake pan and then stick it in the oven while it preheats.
Add one cup of milk to your and stir with a spoon until all wet.
It should look like this.
You can add about a quarter of a cup more of milk if need be, but what we are aiming for here is soupy biscuit batter.
All that brown is the crispy bread. This is SO GOOD!
Cut it any way you choose, add some apple butter and dig in!
Recipe Notes
- If you want to make this southern hoe cake a savory side dish like , you can easily add in jalapenos, grated cheese, or chopped fried bacon with a drop of .
Storage
- If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
- Otherwise, you can freeze hoe cake in a sealed container or bag for up to three months.
- When you need to reheat the hoe cake, it’s best to place the slices on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven for five to 10 minutes.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with hoe cake?
Serve your hoe cake as a side dish with maple syrup, apple butter, or butter with a drizzle of honey or sprinkle of sugar. It tastes best accompanying your favorite Southern-style main meal. I recommend fried chicken, chicken and gravy (use the hoe cake to soak up the gravy, yum), North Alabama-style pulled BBQ chicken, or pork chops.
Where does the name hoe cake come from?
Just like there are a few variations of hoe cake recipes, there are some variations in the explanation of how it got its name. It appears to have first been recognized in print in 1745, according to the Oxford Dictionary. But others have pointed out that the term hoe was used for cooking and it was similar to a griddle. And that my friends seems to be where the term hoe cake (or should it be ?) got its name.
Can you make hoe cake gluten-free?
Yes, you can easily make this southern hoe cake recipe gluten-free. Just simply use gluten-free self-rising flour instead and follow the below instructions.
Ingredients
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Pour a thin layer of oil to cover the bottom of an eight-inch round cake pan and place it in the oven to heat.
- Cut shortening into the flour well. Pour milk in and stir until wet.
- Pour into the well-heated pan and bake for fifteen to twenty minutes or until browned.
- Invert onto plate.
Nutrition
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Easy Birthday Cake Recipe From Scratch
Biscuit Class – Classic 3 Ingredient Biscuits
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Thank you so much for the recipe. I have often plugged in web hoe cake and got back the cornmeal version(which we called johnny cakes). My grandmother fixed hoecakes on a daily basis unless we had flapjacks(much different from pancakes)another recipe I can’t find. Our hoecakes were cooked much like yours in a cast iron skillet but on top the stove instead of baked. We would tear from it and eat with cane syrup and salt bacon. It to had the consistency of a biscuit. So nice to see there is someone out there who actually knows what a hoecake is (our version that is).
brought out my cst iron and tried this version, love it
Thank you for this recipe for hoecakes. My aunt would prepare the dough for my mom and her sister and they would cook it for us on Sunday morning for breakfast. However, my mom would fry it like a pancake. It was so good, all the kids would so excited when my aunt would send hoecake dough. Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to make it for my mom and introduce it to my children.
I can’t believe I found this recipe! My dad has been making this in our family for years. It is a must have with beans, chili, soup, or a vegetables only supper fresh from the garden in the summer time. He makes his in a cast iron skillet. He oils the pan, but sprinkles the edges and bottom with garlic salt. It is wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
My great grand mother used to make this for me in Florida. I absolutely loved it. It was the best especially with bean and rice.
I never liked cast iron bakeware either until I bought the new kind that you don’t have to fuss so much with. I bought a 12″ skillet with lid at Crackerbarrel and I love it! I follow the very short instructions on care and put it away and voila!, it is ready the next time I use it.
Just finished reading “Hoe Cake” recipe. Sounds out of this world deelicious.
Noticed you don’t like to cook in cast iron. If I didn’t have my cast iron cookware, I would feel like my hands were tied dehind my back. I have about a dozen sizes of fry pans, dutch ovens, and covered chicken fryers. I don’t think I could make corn bread without one. Oh well, to each his or her own method of cooking. If it works for you, then do it your way. Apparently you are doing it right because your recipes are money!! Best I ever made, bar none. God bless and have a great day.
Hey Skip,
I’m so glad you found (and are enjoying!) Southern Plate!
I sure have enjoyed reading your comments!!
I actually have quite the cast iron addiction nowadays although when I wrote this I was a bit Leary of it. Amazing how much a body can change in a year. I rarely use a regular skillet and am coveting a cast iron Dutch oven!
It sure is nice having you here, I hope you keep commenting, you’re a grand addition to my virtual front porch!
~refills your tea glass~
gratefully,
Christy 🙂