Johnny Cakes is a traditional US Virgin Islands recipe for a classic snack, breakfast or accompaniment of fried buns leavened with baking powder. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic US Virgin Islands version of: Johnny Cakes.
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Ingredients:
250g of Unbleached Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cold Butter
1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
2 tbsp Sugar (or more if you like a sweeter Johnny Cake this makes for a more savory version)
120ml Whole Milk
4 tbsp Water
Method:
Sift together the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Sugar into a mixing bowl. Dice the butter then add to the bowl, rubbing into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Pour in the milk and water. Using your hands begin kneading the dough. The dough will be tacky and extremely sticky. This is not a bad thing. The soft texture of the dough will help to ensure a light and fluffy outcome. However, you will need to sprinkle in some extra flour to be able to handle the dough.
Only add the flour a little at a time, adding too much can toughen the johnny cakes. The goal here is to reach the point where the dough just comes together without being overly tacky. Don't over work the dough either, you don't want too much gluten in this recipe or the johnny cakes will come out tough.
Continue kneading for about five minutes, adding a sprinkle of flour as necessary.
Cover the dough with clingfilm (plastic wrap) then set aside to rest for 5 minutes. The plastic helps prevent a skin from forming on the outside of the dough.
After it has rested, lightly dust a baking tray with flour. Pinch off a piece of the dough — enough to make about a 7cm diameter ball.
Roll the dough between your palms and place on the floured surface.
In a deep frying pan or wok, bring about 3–5cm of vegetable oil up to frying temperature.
Flatten the dough pieces one at a time by gently stretching them in a circular motion.
Do not just palm flatten the dough. The gentle stretching helps to create the much needed gluten that makes the Johnny Cake light and fluffy. After working they should be about 6 to 12mm in thickness.
Fry the Johnny Cakes until golden brown on one side, then flip over gently to fry until the other side is golden brown and cooked through.
You may need to modify your heat so that it doesn’t cook too slowly or too quickly.
If you fry them at too low a temperature, they will soak up the oil and be very greasy. If you fry them too quickly they will burn on the outside and not cook through properly.
Use one as a test, then after you’ve successfully mastered it, fry the rest the same way. If it isn’t working out the way you want, modify things. Maybe you can increase or decrease the frying time and/or temperature or even the size of the Johnny Cake itself.
Once they have finished frying, place them on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil. If you’ve fried them properly, it shouldn’t have much oil.
These are the perfect crunchy on the outside texture and a nice open and airy inside that still has some substance.
They are great as a snack with a cup of cocoa tea or even for breakfast with eggs and bacon, or as they're commonly served, with a well fried Chicken Leg!
