Buttermilk Cornmeal Cakes

These cornmeal cakes make a delicious breakfast or light supper served with maple syrup or turkey hash. Make the pancakes small so they don’t break up. You can add cracklings to the batter if you like.

Makes about 20 4-inch pancakes.

1 cup cornmeal, preferably stoneground
1¼ cups boiling water
2 tablespoons lard in small pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Cooking fat

Put the cornmeal in a big bowl and pour the boiling water over, stirring to remove the lumps. Add the lard and stir until melted.

Mix together the egg and buttermilk. In a small bowl sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir the dry ingredients into the cornmeal slurry alternately with the buttermilk/egg mixture.

Heat a griddle or skillet to medium-high and lightly grease it with lard, butter, or other fat. Ladle small rounds of batter, a few at a time, onto the surface and cook, turning once, until golden and done. Continue until all the batter is used, holding the finished pancakes in a warm oven.