The Best Crucian Johnny Cake Recipe - Shhh... It's Top-Secret! (2024)

🇻🇮St. Croix

Steve

Johnny Cake!

Few words solicit greater joy and elation among born and bred Crucians (like me) and those who have been lucky enough to visit my home island of St. Croix. These fluffy-fried, golden-sweet, semi-flattened spheres of pure goodness are THE staple snack food back home, found on every menu at every local restaurant worth anything everywhere across the island.

In fact, if you should ever come across a local restaurant in St. Croix that doesn’t serve Virgin Islands johnny cakes, you best make a bee-line for the door. Seriously, a Crucian eatery without Caribbean them is like a ballpark without hotdogs, a burger joint without fries, or a roti shop without doubles or this sweet stuff…

West Indian johnny cakes are just a must for local Crucian restaurants, period. End. Of. Story!

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So, what’s so great about Johnny Cakes?

In my extremely biased Crucian opinion—everything!

They’re sweet, filling and perfectly fine enjoyed on their own. I personally used to love grabbing them when they were warm, making a small incision, and slipping a slice of cheddar or saltfish in the middle. Pair ’em up with fried fish, BBQ chicken, souse, lechon, buljol, or any number of other island favorites, and you have heaven on a plate.

Now, if you’ve already picked up your copy of The St. Croix Food & Wine Experience Cookbook, featuring the writing of yours truly, then you already know that this local delight was originally known as a Journey Cake. This name derived from the fact that people used to eat them on their way to work.

The name may have morphed into Johnny Cake over time, but the tasty treat itself has always remained the same.

Johhny Cake as we know it in St. Croix is an unleavened fried bread consisting primarily of white flour. Some people also bake them, but to me, they’re just not the same unless they’ve been fried

Variations on the snack, often substituting corn meal in place of flour, are found carrying the same name in as disparate a collection of places as New England, Rhode Island, Australia, and Newfoundland. Although, some other locales have adopted the name hoe cakes… For whatever reason. I’m sure their takes on this classic are good too, but nothing will ever compare to real Crucian Johnny Cakes for me.

This, of course, begs the question:

How to make johnny cakes?

If you want to make a batch at home, we have a special treat for you… My friend and fellow St. Croix Country Day School Class of ’89 alum, Karen Chancellor, has agreed to share her “top secret” Caribbean Johnny Cake recipe with us!

This is no small coup, people. Family recipes like this are fiercely guarded in the Caribbean, and from what Karen has told me, this one has been vetted countless times over the years as part of her own, personal quest for perfection. It’s not so much the ingredients that are the secret (they don’t change much no matter what recipe you’re following) as it is the technique and tips born of Karen’s relentless drive for perfection.

How important is this recipe to my friend, Karen? Her words:

I value my Virgin Islands Johnny Cake recipe more than gold!

Priceless, just like the flavor of my favorite snack in the whole entire world.

Thanks Karen!

Tip: Many people reheat theirs in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. This is okay, but 3 minutes in the toaster oven gives them that freshly fried texture.

The Best Crucian Johnny Cake Recipe - Shhh... It's Top-Secret! (3)

Caribbean Johnny Cake Recipe

Johnny Cake! These fluffy-fried, golden-sweet, semi-flattened spheres of pure goodness are THE staple snack food back home, found on every menu at every local restaurant worth anything everywhere across the island.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 4 tablespoons Sugar
  • 2.5 teaspoons Room Temperature Butter
  • Water
  • Oil for Frying
  • Extra Flour

Instructions

  1. Mix dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt – in a large mixing bowl using a large fork.
  2. Work in the butter with your fingers. It’s like making a pie crust.
  3. Add about 1 cup of water to your large bowl by stirring it in with a fork. Add a little more water, about ÂĽ cup at a time.
  4. Keep stirring until the mixture forms a soft dough.
  5. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough. Knead the dough for a few minutes to allow the ingredients to blend and gluten to form. You may have to add a few sprinkles of flour at a time to keep the dough from becoming too tacky or sticky. If you under knead the gluten will not have a chance to form a good dough. If you over-knead the dough will be rubbery.
  6. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
  7. Flour your hands and your counter-top. Make about 12-15 round balls of dough and set them aside.
  8. Heat the oil in your frying pan. While the oil is heating, use a rolling pin to flatten out each ball. Do not flatten them too much or they will be like crackers. When a drop of water pops in the pot it is ready for frying.
  9. Fry a few at a time in the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pot – that will make them greasy. When the underside is golden brown, flip it over. Do not flip each over more than once. I use tongs like a preacher uses the Bible. Tongs are great for frying because they don’t poke the food. Fry each until both sides are golden brown.
  10. Drain each on a cooling rack.
  11. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

13

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:Calories: 171Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 82mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 4gProtein: 4g

Last updated by Steve Bennett on .

The Best Crucian Johnny Cake Recipe - Shhh... It's Top-Secret! (2024)

FAQs

Why are my Johnny Cakes hard? ›

Although the ingredients may be simple, one ingredient plays a huge role in this recipe. If you have the wrong measurements for the baking powder then everything will go wrong. I remember my johnny cakes coming out hard as a rock because I added too much baking powder.

How old are Johnny Cakes? ›

Johnny cakes were first mentioned in print in 1793 in Amelia Simmons' American Cookery. They are traditionally made with ground flint corn and consist of ground cornmeal, boiling water and salt.

What is the name of the Johnny Cakes? ›

Jonny Manganello (@thejonnycakes) • Instagram photos and videos.

How many calories does a Johnny Cake have? ›

There are 134 calories in 1 piece of Johnnycake. * The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet.

How do I stop my cake from hardening? ›

To stop it ,u just have to reduce the temperature of the oven and increase the baking time . You better have a measuring cup which will be very helpful. Each dry and wet ingredients proportion should be accurate. If the ratio varies then the cake sometimes becomes hard .

What makes a cake hard on top? ›

Toughness in cakes is caused by over-mixing, or the wrong type of flour. Solution: Mix your cake according to the recipe. There is a function to the order in which ingredients are added to create the right texture.

Do people still eat Johnny Cakes today? ›

"They were used for survival, but they have maintained their place in Rhode Island because they are delicious," says Ben Drumm, co-owner of Kenyon's Grist Mill in Usquepaug, Rhode Island. The mill has ground the cornmeal used in jonnycakes and another traditional regional dish, Indian pudding, since 1886.

What is a fun fact about Johnny Cakes? ›

This cake originates with the Shawnees, who would cook a corn patty on a hot stone, that they would then take with them on day-long expeditions. Upon meeting them, European settlers noticed that this snack could keep for several days and was easily enough to feed a man on long journeys.

What is the difference between cornbread and Johnny cake? ›

A Johnny cake recipe makes a thinner batter that is fried into rounds, essentially making cornmeal pancakes. Cornbread is made with baking soda or baking powder to give it a bread-like lift and texture and is oven-baked in a baking dish and cut into squares for serving.

What is Elvis Presley cake? ›

An Elvis Presley cake is a single-layer classic yellow cake that's topped with a pineapple glaze. Much like a poke cake, the syrup and juices of the pineapple will seep into the cake through fork holes, resulting in a decadent, ultra-moist cake.

What is difference between hoecake and Johnnycake? ›

Hoecakes—also known as corn pone, johnny cakes, or cornmeal pancakes—are a fairly common sight at brunch tables in the South, but are perhaps less known above the Mason-Dixon line. In its most basic form, a hoecake is simply a mixture of batter of cornmeal, water, and salt fried in lard or rendered bacon fat.

What is a Johnny Cake slang? ›

cornbread usually cooked pancake-style on a griddle (chiefly New England)

Why do they call it Johnny Cake? ›

Some say the word is a mutation of ''Shawnee cake,'' named after that tribe. Others contend it derives from ''journeycake,'' an English term applied because the durable cornmeal cakes were carried in saddlebags and on ships during long trips.

What is a Johnny Cake and do people still eat it? ›

The modern johnnycake is a staple in the cuisine of New England, and New Englanders claim it originated in Rhode Island. A modern jonnycake is fried gruel made from yellow or white cornmeal that is mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and sometimes sweetened.

How many calories in a caribbean johnny cake? ›

Calories in Caribbean Johnny Cakes
Calories69.9
Sodium201.2 mg
Potassium26.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate13.5 g
Dietary Fiber0.7 g
8 more rows

How do you soften a rock hard cake? ›

Soak your cake in milk or cream.

Simply brush on a few tablespoons of milk or cream to the top of your dry cake or, for a truly indulgent finish, follow recipes like one-bowl tres leches poke cake, baked and soaked in a combination of whole milk, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk.

Why is my cake hard and not fluffy? ›

Over mixing acts on the gluten in flour and will make cakes hard instead of the lovely soft spongy texture we associate with a good cake. Insufficient creaming of sugar and eggs will also make a tight texture because there isn't enough air trapped in the mix to give it a lift.

Why is my cake hard and rubbery? ›

Avoid over-mixing of flour as it activates the gluten amount, which makes the cake hard, and as a result, you will get a rubbery cake. Always check the freshness of your baking soda and powder, as it plays a very crucial role while baking a cake. Proper measurement is the key to getting a perfectly baked cake.

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