Johnny Cakes

Johnny cakes are small deep-fried cakes of flour dough, eaten for breakfast or with saltfish across the Caribbean, including Saint Kitts.

Johnny cakes are a fried flour dough found in many Caribbean kitchens, and they are a common breakfast in Saint Kitts. The name is shared with a different food: in New England, johnnycake is a thin griddle bread made from cornmeal, so a guest asking for johnnycake in the United States may expect something quite different.

What it really is

The dough is made from flour, baking powder, salt and water, mixed until it holds together and then shaped into small cakes. They are deep-fried in hot oil until the outside turns golden and the inside is cooked through. The usual dough has no other ingredients, so the flavour is plain and the character comes from the frying and from what the cake is eaten with. Size and texture differ from one cook to the next, and a Johnny cake from one kitchen may be quite unlike one from another.

How it's served

• Hot from the fryer, while the outside is still crisp.
• With saltfish, which is salted cod, as the usual partner at breakfast.
• On their own, or alongside other food as a bread for the meal.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the dish as Johnny Cakes and say that they are deep-fried.
• Flag wheat, since the flour is wheat flour.
• If you serve them with saltfish, flag fish as a separate allergen and say so on the menu line.
• If the cakes share a fryer with fish, prawns or other seafood, declare the crustaceans, molluscs or fish as a cross-contact risk.
• State the portion, such as the number of cakes, because sizes vary between kitchens.