Hoe Cakes with Blueberry Jalapeno Sauce
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Southern-style hoe cakes with blueberry jalapeño sauce give your breakfast a little oomph!
When you have children, it just seems like pancakes become a part of your weekly routine. This isn’t really a bad thing — after all, pancakes are pretty fantastic — but the taste buds of my kids haven’t quite caught on to the myriad ways to prepare pancakes.
While they’re perfectly happy with the plain-and-maple-syrup combination, I often find myself looking for alternative ways to enjoy pancakes.
Lately I’ve been getting into using cornmeal more in my cooking, so it makes sense that batches and batches of hoe cakes weren’t too far down the road. Hoe cakes are a staple of Southern cooking, though here in Texas we don’t seem to see them as much. (I’ll let someone else argue whether Texas is part of the South.)
These hearty little cakes are crisp on the outside but tender on the inside, making them perfect for people who want some substance to their breakfast.
Hoe cakes are excellent drizzled with sorghum syrup or molasses, or even plain if you happen to cook them in bacon fat on a cast iron skillet. For this batch, however, I decided to make these a bit of a last blast of summer and use the very last of the season’s blueberries and fresh jalapeños.
The blueberry jalapeño sauce comes together quite easily, requiring minimal hands-on cooking. If you’ve made jam before, you’ve basically already made a sauce, just cooked longer!
Feel free to adjust the sauce to your tastes, adding more or less sugar or jalapeño. Make sure to mash the blueberries enough to have the juices extracted, which will help it get nice and saucy.
If you want a smoother sauce, you can always purée the sauce in a blender or put it through a food mill. I prefer the pieces of blueberry and unexpected bite from a sudden jalapeño.
While you might be tempted, don’t skimp on the buttermilk or butter for this recipe. The flavor just won’t be the same, and you won’t get the nice crisp exterior if you decide to use a canola spray instead of butter.
You’ll love these hoe cakes with blueberry jalapeño sauce for breakfast or brunch! You can even add whole corn kernels to make them a bit more savory and add them to your dinner repertoire. Go for it!
Hoe Cakes with Blueberry Jalapeño Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 cup stoneground yellow cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more butter for the pan
For the Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons diced jalapeño
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together self-rising flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder.
- In another bowl whisk together buttermilk and eggs until blended, then pour into dry mixture. Let batter rest while you make the sauce.
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, combine blueberries, sugar, jalapeño, and lemon juice and stir well.
- As the blueberries warm, mash them slightly with your spoon or a potato masher, leaving some blueberries whole if you like. Let simmer gently while you cook the pancakes.
- To make the hoe cakes, warm a skillet or griddle over medium heat. When warm, add a small amount of butter to the pan and swirl to coat.
- Stir the 4 tablespoons melted butter into the batter. Scoop 2 tablespoons of batter and drop it into the prepared pan, repeating as allowed for pan size.
- Cook until edges are dry and bubbles appear (1-2 minutes), then flip and cook an additional 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat until all batter is used.
- Serve hoe cakes with warm blueberry jalapeño sauce. Leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge and reheated as needed.