Southern Hoe Cake Recipe
Hoe cake seems to be a rather elusive recipe, even among southerners. Apart from my own, I have only one friend whose family still makes it.
Even among us though, the variations are vast. His family makes it using corn meal as seems to be the custom among recipes found on the web. My family’s version uses flour and produces a bread much like buttermilk biscuits in flavor only with a lighter and fluffier texture and crispy outsides.
Either way you look at it, hoe cake is revered by those who know of it. I am sure its origins sprang forth much like the rest of our southern dishes – too little time and too few ingredients. It is a simple food to make but will easily take over the starring role at your dinner table. Once you see how simple it is to make, it will take a starring role in your dinner preparations as well!
I made hoe cake for my in laws for the first time this past weekend. Even though they are from Georgia, they had never had it either! It was requested and made the following meal as well, where a pint and a half of fresh apple butter was ate along with it!
I can honestly say that this is a rare recipe, having searched and not found it anywhere online. I do hope you will try it and guarantee that if you like biscuits, you’ll LOVE hoe cake.
Ingredients for this are a cinch. Self rising flour (White Lily, of course!), vegetable shortening, and whole milk. If you don’t have self rising flour where you are, go here for the formula of how to make your own.
To two cups of self rising flour, add 1/2 cup of shortening.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour a thin layer of vegetable oil in the bottom of a cake pan. This is where the old folks use a cast iron skillet but at the time of this tutorial Mama had yet to hand down a cast iron skillet to me so I figured a cake pan with a wee bit of wear on it is just as good ~grins~. Either way, you’re going to add enough oil to cover the bottom of your cake pan and then stick it in the oven while it preheats.
*I am happy to report that I now have a cherish cast iron skillet from my Mama but I still go back and forth between a cake pan and cast iron when making this (whichever on I grab first) so don’t you dare go feeling bad for whichever one you choose to use.
You want this oil to be good and hot.
It should look like this. You can add about a fourth of a cup more of milk if need be. What we are making here is soupy biscuit batter.
Bake at 425 degrees until browned on top, fifteen to twenty minutes.
Remove from oven when it looks like this and turn out onto a plate so it is upside down.
All that brown is the crispy bread. This is SO GOOD! Cut it any way you choose and dig in!
Ingredients
- 2 cups self rising flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. Pour a thin layer of oil to cover the bottom of an eight inch round cake pan and place in oven to heat.
- Cut shortening into flour well. Pour milk in and stir until wet.
- Pour into well heated pan and bake for fifteen to twenty minutes or until browned.
- Invert onto plate.
Print This Recipe
Related posts:
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Jul 8 2008. Filed under Breads, FEATURED Southern Favorites!, Southern Plate Kids.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
I had this a lot growing up. We called it biscuit bread. Sometimes she would refer to it as hoe cake bread, but me and my brother always requested she make biscuit bread. Especially great with sausage gravy!!
This reminds me of the drop buiscuits my Mother made – I really want to try it to see…
Made this this morning and we loved it. My husband especially liked the crispy crust. Will definitely make this a lot. Thanks for sharing!!!
I am so glad to hear that yall liked it Donna!!!!
Just curious. Early in your demonstration you mention using whole milk but in the actual recipe it only says “milk”. Is whole actually required? We usually only drink skim milk. Will that work just as well?
It’s even better with buttermilk. Try it!
You can get fat free buttermilk.
This was delish!
I am so glad to hear that you liked it!!!
My grandma makes hers like this but, she doesn’t put it in the oven, she cooks it on the stove in a cast iron skillet. She covers it so that it can rise but, you still get the crispy edges.
I’ll try this! The hoe cake I was raised on was 2 parts of self rising corn meal to one part of self rising flour. Stir in enough water to make it a little soupy. Fry in a cast iron pan in bacon grease or oil. Simple and not a lot of ingredients.
Your recipe is like biscuit bread and I’d forgotten about that! It will be on our table this weekend! Thanks!
Our Relay for Life Team “Team Town of Nags Head”, Nags Head, NC is having a Lunch and Learn and Soup Sale Fundraiser on March 13th and some of on the team are making soups to sell and some of us are making muffins and such to sell with the soup and I am making your Hoe Cake recipe ~ I’ll let you know how it goes over.
My Daddy used to make this on the extremely rare occasions when Mama was gone (I think the only times was when she or someone else was in the hospital). Anyhooooo…
I thought that this was just a way for Daddy to make biscuits so that he wouldn’t have to mess with rolling and cutting them out. I’ve made it myself for that reason very.
Thanks!
What a great memory!!
Christy — going to try this — we used to make corn meal hoecakes. We would mix flour, corn meal, lard (did I say that?), and milk — pour in a cast iron skillet and fry it.
I grew up with my grandmother making this. Try is with tomatoe gravy it is wonderful.
Sherri! You know about tomatoe gravy!!!! I am 65,grew up with that “gravy” lol
My grandmother made a simple version of this, using only self rising flour,an egg, good Florida spring water and salt. She would grease her skillet with shortening or bacon grease and cook it on top of the stove. When the dough was cooked through, flip it once to lightly brown the other side and it was done. It came out light and fluffy, but crunchy on the outside. Slice it, add some butter or top it with your favorite syrup
(mine was cane) and there ain’t much better. Thanks for the memories. Now I need to go try and make some for myself.
p.s. Christy, GREAT website! Just found it so I’ll be looking in on you a lot from now on!
This recipe is fantastic. It was dummy proof!!! I made this and my fiance loved it. It was so easy and really good as a side dish with so many different foods. Thank again!!!!
Both my Granny’s & my Grandma’s recipes call for self rising flour and water. When I asked why they didn’t use shortening, both said that adding shortening would make it biscuits instead of hoe cake. I suppose that for them, milk would have done the same thing. We cook ours in a hot skillet greased with bacon grease, wait for it to be cooked through, flip it once, and serve with sausage gravy, cane syrup, or just plain butter! I’ve made it for others and they are amazed at how simple it is and how good!
We called these fatcakes in my family. Momma served them for breakfast with bacon, eggs, and syrup. I never could figure out the recipe. Thank you.
This is the first time that I have seen this recipe in print. Everyone around here uses cornmeal in their hoecake. My parents were from the mountains of NC. This is almost exactly the way that they make hoecake.The only difference is that instead of greasing the pan and cutting in the shortening, we put the shortening (or lard) in the pan, melt it, swish it around the pan and pour it into the batter. Cuts out a step or two. My husband had never heard of hoecake when we got married in 1969. I made hoecake for him and that was the only bread that he wanted after that. He preferred it over biscuits. So do all 3 of my children and 4 grandchildren. Thanks for the memories.
We had this growing up and was cooked in our family for many generations.
Our recipe is simple. Flour and Milk and or water.
Delish
Christy, you have given us a new favorite! Thanks for sharing this fab recipe, which I have passed to several friends along with your website bookmark. For kicks, I tried this in an iron popover/muffin pan and we like the individual size even better. There is no cutting involved and everyone gets more crisp crust! They make great salmon patty “sandwiches” with pepper jelly. Thanks again for this and all your great recipes and stories. God bless!
Thank you so much!!! My mom and uncle both made Hoe Cake in this manner and both passed and didn’t write down the recipe. Momma always made it and served it with warm apple sauce. BEST. EVER!!!!!! can’t wait to make it today for my family.
I am so glad you found the recipe LaVenia! I hope you enjoy!!
Christy, I pratically lived on this growing up at my Granny’s house! I’ve done your recipe for it and it’s as good as my Granny’s! My husband requests this A LOT and I’m more than happy to make it for him. Thanks for keeping “Granny” memories alive for me!
Oh my gosh! Thank you for posting this. This looks just like my Grandaddy’s recipe – which I have yet to perfect. I can’t wait to try it and see how close it comes to my memories. I’ve been working off and on for years now to try and reproduce it. As a young teen with (what I thought at the time) was far more important things, I failed to have him teach me. He passed away before I recognized my mistake. My grandmother remembered basically how he made it, but without him here to guide me, it just hasn’t been quite right.
I’m so glad to have found this recipe. My brother and I have talked about this bread recipe for about the last 20 years. My auntie use to make this for breakfast and dinner everyday for my grandfather. This was his favorite thing. My auntie always called it “flour bread”. Thank u so much for this recipe and I know my brother will be very excited to know I finally found the recipe.
I just made this with the slow cooker chili recipe from this website and it is very good. I had to use butter since I didn’t have any shortening. This will definitely become a staple in my home.
I am so glad to hear that you liked it Erica!!
Thanks for posting this! I have been looking for this for years. My grandfather made this.
Heard about hoe cakes from a resent tour of George Washington home, Mount Vernon, apparently it was a staple of George’s.
Oh WOW, thanks for sharing that tidbit of history Rob. I had no idea!
My Mom-Mom Florence made this (as do I ) with approx. 1 tsp. sugar. Whooie Lordy wasn’t that good!
Hi Christy,
Your site is a delight. I have heard that hoe cake is called that because it was actually cooked on a hoe over an open fire. .
Christy, when my mom made these the dough/batter was a bit thicker, more like biscuit dough. She formed it into large “patties” and cooked them in some grease in a cast iron skillet on the stove top. I believe she covered it so it would rise. They were so wonderful and I miss them (and her, of course) so very much. I think I’ll try your version, then may add a little more flour to made a thicker batter and try it her way, too. Oh, will it matter if I use Gold Medal flour? I live in a small town and White Lily flour isn’t available here. Thank you.
Thanks for solving a mystery… This is what my mother called “drop biscuits” because she dropped big spoonfuls into the pre-heated skillet, instead of pouring it in like cake batter. I always knew her biscuits were different than any others. Now I know… she had a lot of go-to recipes most of my southern friends’ families didn’t have!
I’m making this right now for the 1st time. Reminds me of fried bread. Which my family dearly loves. Can’t wait to try it!
My Mom used a hoe cake in her Thanksgiving dressing, along with cornbread. I always thought she made up the term because I had never heard of it anywhere else, other than her recipe. Today I decided to google “hoe cake” and found this recipe. Mom is probably laughing at me right now in Heaven. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’m making her dressing, which has now become MY signature dish for the Holidays.
My mom made it too. But after cooked, it would resemble more like a huge pancake. I think she got here a tad more like pancake batter. But used the same ingridients. She cooked on top of the stove in an iron skillet, sorta like the old farmers used to do using their ‘hoe’(ie hoe cake). After cooked and still hot put butter in middle like a bisquit. Yum, good…
big ole pancke ! lol
At the “camp ground” ,open fire,in a skillet! Us “Southern Folks”,have to keep these Home Grown delights going! 4th generation Florida Cracker at the age of 65 and Proud
[...] Adapted from Southern Plate [...]
Bless you for sharing this recipe. My grandmother used to make it for me (at my request) every time I was over for a visit. The only variation is that she fried it on low heat in her cast iron skillet with a little butter. I LOVED IT and have been looking for the recipe for quite some time. Many thanks.
I hope you get to make it soon Meka!!
Most people don’t know what a Hoe Cake Is my Mama taught me how to make hoe cake when I was a little girl I still make them and I cook homemade fatback gravy.to go alone with it ……… Mmmmmmmm I am making me hungry : )
My Granny and Mama taught me to make dressing using Hoe cake and Cornbread(((((((((( NO SUGAR IN MY CORNBREAD!!!!!) AND EVERYONE LOVES MY DRESSING . I THINK I COULD REALLY SALE IT CAUSE IT IS SOOOOOOOO GOOD …..JUST SAYING .
I am a 65 year old 4th generation “Florida Cracker”!! Thanks for keeping Hoe Cake alive
Good for dippin’ in peanut butter and syurp
I grew up on Southern cooking and beg to differ with your commentary. Hoe Cake batter should be a cornmeal batter and a consistency thick enough that you could be able to cook it on a hoe blade over an open flame or drop into a skillet of oil or grill pan and fry like a pancake.. The recipe you have given for a Southern Hoe Cake is a drop biscuit recipe minus one tablespoon of sugar for each cup of flour. Because this recipe is cake batter consistency, a drop biscuit pan, cake pan, cup cake pan or skillet with sides is needed. If the liquid is reduced to make the batter thicker so it can hold its shape, it can be dropped by a spoon full onto a cast iron skillet and baked which will yield individual sized biscuits that are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. With the cake batter consistency (drop biscuit) recipe, add one cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the dry ingredients before adding the liquid. After baking brush with melted garlic butter,. and you will have the biscuits that Red Lobster serves. If with your recipe, the liquid is reduced further for a dough consistency, the dough can be pressed into an appropriately sized cast iron skillet and baked, then you have a johnny cake or journey cake. Hoe cake batter should be of a consistency that is thick enough (not soupy) that it can hold its shape on the blade of a hoe and cooked over an open flame, hence, the name hoe cake. Just saying.
You actually didn’t differ with me, but thank you for taking the time for such a well thought out comment. If you’ll notice in my introduction, I mentioned the traditional hoe cake you went into detail about. I also have several variations on this recipe on the site as well. As you demonstrated, just about any recipe (including a hoe cake made with corn meal) can be added to, modified, and altered to make limitless options – one of the joys of cooking!
I always say (and have entire posts about it) that how your Mama did it was the “right” way so while this is the only “right” hoe cake for me, yours can still be the only “right” hoe cake for you. It’s wonderful to live in the land of the free!
While you’re at it, you’ll find that life is so much better once you kick the “should”, “need to” and “supposed to”‘s out of your kitchen. Your kitchen = your rules
Have a wonderful day Bucky Buck!
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy your comment to bucky buck was well said, you said it in a much nicer way than what I would’ve. Some ppl are negative. Now as for this recipe I’m fixing to go make it, it sounds a lot like my grandma’s recipe except I think she put vanilla flavor in it, either way i’m gonna try it your way. I’ve been trying to find this recipe forever, well since my grandma passed away. Thanks for the recipe. Your right the kitchen should be limitless!
LOL, thank you Sara!! I hope you enjoy the Hoe Cake!
Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!! My husband has been telling me for years about the Hoe Cakes he had growing up in Virginia. I searched and searched for some recipe that would come close, but none did. He kept telling me it was like a great big biscuit, but the only recipes I could find had cornmeal in them and he was insistent that they were not like cornbread, they were like biscuits! He will be enjoying this recipe this evening along with the pot of pinto beans that are cooking as I look at your wonderful website!
Oh my goodness, I am so glad you found this!! I can’t wait to hear what he thinks about it and I bet you are going to get Wife of the Year!!
Can this just be fried on top of the stove ? Thanks.
It can if you make it into patties and drop them in like drop biscuits to fry them.
Thank You.