Aunt Dealy’s Corn Cakes

We love our cornbread. And corn pone, corn muffins, ash cakes, hoe cakes, cornmeal biscuits, spoon bread, and johnnycakes! Regardless of what you call it, this simple recipe for traditional corn cakes makes the perfect side for the any stew recipe.

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Aunt Dealy’s Corn Cakes

  • 2 cups of corn meal
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ cups buttermilk, more or less

Make the stiff batter into round balls, rather than small ones, and flatten into cakes about ½ inch thick. Heat bacon grease or lard to medium hot, deep enough in the pan to run back and forth, but not too deep. Place cakes in the hot pan. When cakes are brown (it will not take long), turn. They should rise and be light and happy. When both sides are brown whisk the cakes to the table. They are best if slit across with a knife and filled with a slice of country butter. They’re good, too, topped with black molasses in place of dessert.

This recipe first appeared in the March 2001 issue of Our State. It was excerpted from North Carolina & Old Salem Cookery by Beth Tartan. University of North Carolina Press.

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Since 1933, Our State has shared stories about North Carolina with readers both in state and around the world. We celebrate the people and places that make this state great. From the mountains to the coast, we feature North Carolina travel, history, food, and beautiful scenic photography.

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