Rye Drop Cakes
Rye is a winter crop and was often used as ground cover or to help the soil. It grows deeper, thus adding nutrients deep into the soil, and is beneficial in crop rotation planting. It is also lower in gluten than wheat, but not gluten-free. It was an easy crop for early settlers to grow, as it grew well. It was often ground into flour and used as many grains are for cereals, so rye porridge was common as grits or oatmeal.
Continuing with recipes from Shenandoah Valley Cooking Recipes and Kitchen Lore, here is the recipe as written. It also shows the progression of baking, with baking powder being an ingredient, which became available by the mid-1800s.
Rye Drop Cakes
Mix one cup of rye flour, a half cup of white flour, a pinch of salt, one and a half teaspoons of baking powder, and a half cup of sugar. Moisten with one cup of milk and one beaten egg into a stiff batter. Heat a skillet with several inches of lard, drop the batter in by spoonful and cook for about six minutes or until the balls are golden brown. Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
RYE DROP CAKES
Ingredients
- 1 cup Old Mill Rye Flour
- 1/2 cup Old Mill Plain Flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- lard or oil for frying
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat a skillet with several inches of lard. Drop the batter in by spoonsful and cook for about six minutes or until the balls are golden brown.
- Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm.
Notes:
Tips for Success:
- You want a firm, but not stiff batter or dough. It should hold on the spoon when turned upside down.
- If the batter is too thin, add a little more rye and/or plain flour to thicken to a firm batter, if it is too thick, add a little more milk.
- Get your lard or oil hot before dropping in the first batch.
- Work in small batches to give the cakes room to move.
- Turn the cakes a couple of times to avoid burning.