Cornmeal Cakes — I've Eaten This for Over Ten Years
By Vivian
Why You'll Love It
A lot of people still think of whole grains as something that scrapes your throat and doesn't taste good.
I used to think so too, until I had this cornmeal cake.
Scalding the cornmeal takes away all the coarseness, and with white flour and egg it comes out soft and sweet, with the natural aroma of corn.
The bottom fries up crisp and crackles when you bite; the top is fluffy and soft. Two textures out of one cake, and it completely changed what I thought about whole grains.
Best of all, it's barely any work: no kneading, no oven — stir it together and a skillet does the rest. Low in calories and genuinely filling, so if you're watching what you eat, it works as a staple with no guilt attached.
Ingredients
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 1⅔ cups (200 g) fine cornmeal | 1⅔ cups (200 g) all-purpose flour |
| 1 tsp (3 g) instant yeast | 1 egg |
| ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200 ml) boiling water | 2½ tsp (10 g) sugar (optional) |
Ingredient Notes
- Use fine cornmeal — coarse grind eats gritty.
- The water has to be at a full rolling boil, and pour it in while stirring so it scalds through evenly.
- Let the scalded cornmeal cool to body temperature before adding the yeast, or you'll kill it.
- Half all-purpose flour is what makes them fluffy instead of crumbly.
- Don't add water past one-third of the way up the cakes, or you're boiling them instead of steaming.
Instructions
-
1
Put the cornmeal in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water and stir as you go, until it's shaggy.
This step matters: the cornmeal has to be scalded. Scalding removes the raw taste and makes the cakes sweeter and softer, without that coarse whole-grain feel.
-
2
Let the scalded cornmeal cool to just warm to the touch — any hotter and it kills the yeast — then add the egg, yeast, and 2½ tsp (10 g) sugar if you want them sweeter.
-
3
Add the all-purpose flour and knead into a smooth dough.
You don't need to knead it like bread dough; just until it's not sticky and the surface is more or less smooth.
-
4
Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and let it rise somewhere warm until doubled, about an hour.
You can also knead it the night before and let it ferment in the fridge overnight — bring it back to room temperature in the morning and it's ready to use.
-
5
Turn the risen dough out, deflate it gently, divide into 6 equal pieces, shape into ovals or rounds, cover, and let them rise a second time for 15 minutes.
-
6
Brush a thin layer of oil in a skillet, add the cakes, and fry over medium-low until the bottoms are golden.
Then pour a small bowl of water down the side of the pan — about a third of the way up the cakes — cover, and keep it at medium-low until the water has completely cooked off.
-
7
Treated this way, the whole grain loses every bit of coarseness. It's just honest grain flavor, and with a bowl of congee or soy milk it's a properly grounding breakfast.
-
8
Straight out of the pan, the bottom is crisp and toasty — it crackles when you bite in.
The top is fluffy and soft with corn's natural sweetness, and it gets better the more you chew.
Recipe Notes
Cornmeal Cakes
cornmeal scalded with boiling water, plus egg and flour, pan-fried until the bottom is crisp, then finished with a splash of water and a lid. Crisp underneath, fluffy on top — two textures in one cake.
Time Needed
Prep Ahead
- The scalded cornmeal must cool to body temperature before you add the yeast — too hot kills it.
- You can also knead the dough the night before and ferment it in the fridge; bring it to room temperature and use it straight away.
- 【Yield】400 g total flour (about 3⅓ cups) makes 6 cornmeal cakes.
- 【Key ratios】Cornmeal to all-purpose flour = 1:1 (200 g each); ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (200 ml) boiling water for the cornmeal; 1 tsp (3 g) yeast, 2½ tsp (10 g) sugar optional.
- 【Heat】Brush on a thin layer of oil and fry over medium-low until the bottom is golden, add a small bowl of water down the side, cover, and cook until the water is gone.
- 【Rising】Let the scalded cornmeal cool to body temperature before adding yeast. Rise to double, about 1 hour — or ferment in the fridge overnight.
- 【Storage & reheating】Freeze up to 2 weeks; reheat in a skillet or steamer for 8 minutes.
- 【Common problems】A raw corn taste means it wasn't scalded. A soft bottom means too much water or too low a heat.
Nutrition (per 100 g, estimated)
| Calories | about 232 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | about 7 g |
| Fat | about 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | about 42 g |
| of which sugars | about 3 g |
| Fiber | about 2.5 g |
| Sodium | about 200 mg |
Estimated from the ingredient amounts, not lab tested. One cake is about 2.6 oz (75 g), roughly 174 kcal, calculated at 4 / 9 / 4 kcal per g of protein / fat / carbs.