Hoe Cakes

With grilled cherries and a lemon-ricotta drizzle

Modern vernacular has not been kind to “hoe cakes.” Most folks’ exposure to the term comes from the late MF Doom’s track of the same name or a disparaging way to refer to a shapely rear end. If you were thinking I was cooking up some misogyny today, think again mofo. We’re making cornbread pancakes!

Hoe Cakes with Grilled Cherries

Listen… I’d love to tell you that grilling the cherries makes no difference. That would be a lie. If you have a grill pan, grill the cherries. If you don’t, give them a quick sear in a super hot pan- this will be 3-5 minutes. Once the cherries start to vibrate and shake you know they’re ready.

This will make enough hoe cakes for 4 hungry cowpokes.

Ingredients

For the hoe cakes:

• 1 1/4 c. cornmeal

• 1 c. flour

• 5 tbsp melted butter

• 2 eggs

• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp salt

• 1.5 tsp agave

For the cherry topping:

• ~3 c. fresh cherries

• 1 tbsp agave

• 1 shot of whiskey

• 4 tbsp butter

• Pinch of salt

  For the ricotta lemon drizzle:

• 1 c. ricotta

• zest from 1 lemon

• 1 tbsp agave

• Dash of cinnamon

Process

Put together your ricotta drizzle. Combine all ingredients and set aside in the fridge.

Grill or sear your cherries. Once they have a little dark color on them, remove the pits and cook with butter, whiskey, and agave until soft, 10-15 minutes with a lid on.

Now you’re going to mix the batter- add your dry ingredients- corn meal, flour, salt, and baking powder and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix your wet ingredients- melted butter, eggs, buttermilk, and agave. Add to your dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Set aside and get your pan or griddle heated up on medium high.

Using a big spoon, add dollops of batter to the hot griddle. You’ll know to flip when little bubbles appear in the batter. Flip and cook until done (around 2-3 minutes each side).

Enjoy and top with cherries and a little ricotta sauce!

Swaps

Don’t have buttermilk!

You can add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to your favorite milk and let it sit for 20 minutes to make “buttermilk.”

Make it gluten-free?

Use Bob Red Mill’s 1:1 replacement- it subs in seamlessly!

Make it vegan?

Use your fave plant milk, vegan butter, and a flax egg to veganize this!

Make it low- FODMAP?

Use a GF replacement for the flour if it upsets your tummy- if dairy is a problem, sub plant milk and vegan butter if possible.

For the fruit topping- skip the cherries. They’re known to cause problems even in those without IBS. Try strawberries instead. For the ricotta topping, use a small serving to keep it within bounds.

Tell me a fun fact about these cakes?

This was George Washington’s favorite food!