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Buckwheat Cakes
To 1 1/2 pints pure buckwheat flour (never use prepared or self-raising flour) add 1/4 pint each wheat flour and Indian meal, 3 heaping teaspoonfuls baking-powder, 1 teaspoonful salt, 1 tablespoonful brown sugar or molasses. Sift well together, in dry state, buckwheat, Indian meal, wheat flour, and baking-powder, then add remainder; when ready to bake add 1 pint water or sufficient to form smooth batter that will run in a stream (not too thin) from pitcher; make griddle hot and cakes as large as a saucer. When surface is covered with air holes it is time to turn cakes over; take off when sufficiently browned.
A quick-raised buckwheat cake made with baking powder rather than the overnight yeast sponge that was more common in the period. The measurements are by volume in pints, which needs translating.
- The pint measures1 1/2 pints of buckwheat flour is 3 cups; 1/4 pint each of wheat flour and cornmeal is 1/2 cup each. The 1 pint of water is 2 cups, added gradually until the batter pours in a ribbon.
- Indian mealThis is cornmeal, generally a fairly fine yellow or white grind rather than coarse polenta grits. It is there for body and a slight sweetness against the buckwheat.
- Buckwheat flourThe warning against "prepared" flour still applies: self-rising and pancake mixes already contain leavening and salt, which will double the baking powder here. Buy plain buckwheat flour and note that it goes rancid faster than wheat flour, so smell it first.
- Baking powderThree heaping teaspoons is a tablespoon or more, which is a lot but not unreasonable for 4 cups of flour, much of it gluten-free. If your baking powder is single-acting the batter must go to the griddle promptly; modern double-acting powder gives a little more grace.
- Griddle heatThe recipe says only to make the griddle hot; medium to medium-high is the practical reading. Buckwheat browns faster than a plain wheat batter and scorches easily, so test one small cake before committing to saucer-sized ones.
- TurningThe air holes are the reliable signal: when the surface is matte and pocked and the edges look set, turn once. These cakes are more fragile than wheat pancakes and will tear if flipped early or fussed with after.
- Fat on the griddleThe recipe gives no instruction about greasing. A thin film of butter or neutral oil on the griddle, renewed between batches, keeps buckwheat from sticking.
- YieldAbout 16 to 18 saucer-sized cakes, enough for four to six. The recipe gives no serving instruction; butter with molasses or maple syrup is the usual accompaniment.