Family Traditions: Hoe Cake

No this is not a birthday cake for your sister! :) Hoe cake is (in my definition) a fried biscuit. My Great Grandmother Mama Bess (that's what everyone called her) was one of the best cooks I know. She turned nothing into something, made the best sweet potato pies EVER and the world's greatest seafood gumbo. At 4 foot 9 and 90 years old everyone of the grandchildren and great grandchildren used Mama Bess as a measure of whether or not you were grown, because if you were as tall as Mama Bess you were a grown up!


How I miss sitting and visiting with her and I wish that my daughters could have known her. To bring Mama Bess to life for my kids I make hoe cake! If you spent the night with Mama Bess hoe cake was breakfast with a snack of sugar bread later in the day. Mama Bess knew the way to any of her family's heart was through their stomach.


Cost: Less than $1 for all!
Calorie count: about 150 each


Here's what you need:

1 1/2 c. self rising flour

4 T. shortening

1/2 c. milk (more or less)

Makes 4-5 hoe cakes.

Here's what you do:

Blend flour with shortening (like you're making biscuits). I use a fork to cut the shortening into the flour. This is what helps make flaky layers DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS!

Add in milk a little at a time and stir until dough starts to stick together. It does now need to be 100% blended together. **See the little "chunks" where you cut in the shortening?**

Heat a skillet (I prefer my cast iron) over medium-high heat and put a small dab of shortening on the pan to melt.

Pinch off a handful of dough and pat it into a large flat pancake about 1/2 in thick.

Brown one side and add a little more shortening before flipping over to brown the other side.

Smother with butter while hot and then serve! Molly likes her's with syrup, I like mine with just butter or butter and jelly and Allyson just likes it period! It's also tasty with Apple Butter!