R E C I P E S

Sour West Virginia Buckwheat Cakes

By Holly Jennings

This recipe makes fairly mild but flavorful cakes. You can control the level of sourness, which is most notable when the starter and cakes are made with Preston County-style flour, chiefly by the amount of time you allow the starter to sit, taking into account the time of year you make the starter (cooler temperatures slow the yeast), and by slightly decreasing the amount of baking soda used in the batter, up to scant ¼ teaspoon less.

To make a wild-yeast starter

¼ cup (40 gr) Preston County-style (“white”) buckwheat flour or light buckwheat flour plus additional amounts of ½ cup (80 gr)

½ cup (120 ml) lukewarm water plus additional amounts of ½ cup (120 ml)

In a bowl, stir the flour and water until they are thoroughly combined and smooth. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

Stir, and then remove half the mixture. (Discard it, compost it, or after the second feeding use it to make cakes.) Feed with ½ cup (80 gr) buckwheat flour and ½ cup (120 ml) lukewarm water. Stir the flour and water until smooth. Cover with the towel, and leave at room temperature for 12 hours. Over the next six days, at as close to 12-hour intervals as you can, continue to remove half of the mixture and replenish it with ½ cup (80 gr) buckwheat flour and ½ cup (120 ml) warm water. If you’re using Preston County-style flour, then by the third day the starter will take on a pinkish-purple color. It’s ready to use when small holes appear on the surface and around the edges and the texture is soft and pillowy. The evening before you make buckwheat cakes, feed the starter with ¾ cup (120 gr) buckwheat flour and ¾ cup (180 ml) lukewarm water, cover again with the towel, and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, depending on how sour you want your cakes. (After 24 hours without additional feeding, it will likely become too sour for most tastes.) Makes 3 cups (720 ml) starter.

To make a starter from commercial yeast

2 cups (320 gr) Preston County-style (“white”) buckwheat flour or light buckwheat flour

1¼ teaspoons (5 gr) instant dry yeast

½ teaspoon (3 gr) salt

12 /3 cups (395 ml) lukewarm water

In a crock or other tall container, such as a wide-mouthed 2-quart canning jar, stir together all the starter ingredients until smooth. Aim for the consistency of thick cake batter: it should fall steadily but slowly in thick ribbons from a spoon. If it seems a little too thin or thick, add a little more flour or water. (Darker buckwheat flour is thirstier.) Cover with a clean kitchen towel or loose-fitting lid — do not seal — and leave at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, depending on how sour you like your cakes. After the starter has doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes, stir it down, scraping down the sides of the container. If it doubles in bulk again, stir it down again, scraping down the sides of the container. (Degassing the starter frees up more food for the yeast, facilitating fermentation, which improves the texture and flavor of the cakes.) Makes about 3 cups (720 ml) starter.

To maintain any starter in the refrigerator

Feed 1 cup reserved starter with ¾ cup (120 gr) buckwheat flour and ¾ cup (180 ml) warm water. Stir until the flour and water are thoroughly combined and smooth. Let sit at room temperature loosely covered for an hour, or while making cakes, before sealing and refrigerating. A starter made with commercial yeast will survive for a week in the refrigerator without being fed; one made with wild yeast will survive for several weeks.

Twelve to 24 hours before you plan to make buckwheat cakes, remove the starter from the refrigerator. If a layer of liquid has formed on top — that’s the “hooch” — then stir it back in if you like more sourness or pour it off if you like less, adding warm water to make up the difference. Feed the starter with 1 cup (160 gr) buckwheat flour and 1 cup (240 ml) warm water. Mix the flour and water until smooth and leave the mixture at room temperature, loosely covered, for 12 to 24 hours, depending on how sour you like your cakes. Set aside 1 cup of starter for the future, if you like, and feed it as described above. Use the rest for making batter.

To freeze the starter for future use

In a plastic container or freezer jar, feed 1 cup of reserved starter as described above and let it sit loosely covered at room temperature for about an hour before placing it in the freezer. To use, defrost the starter — about 5 hours at room temperature or 12 hours in the refrigerator — and feed it with 1 cup buckwheat flour (160 gr) and 1 cup (240 ml) warm water. Mix the flour and water until smooth and leave the mixture at room temperature, loosely covered, for 12 to 24 hours. Save 1 cup starter to maintain for next time, and use the rest for making batter.

To make the batter and bake the cakes

2 cups (500 ml) starter

2 tablespoons (30 ml) buttermilk, lukewarm

2 tablespoons (30 ml) milk, lukewarm

3 tablespoons (25 gr) light brown sugar

½ teaspoon (3 gr) salt, if you use freshly made commercial yeast starter, or ¾ teaspoon (5 gr) salt, if you use wild yeast starter or a maintained commercial yeast starter

scant ¾ teaspoon (4 gr) baking soda

up to ½ cup (120 ml) lukewarm water, to thin batter

a piece of pork fatback or any fat or oil that won’t burn at high temperatures (lard, ghee, coconut oil, and olive oil all work) for greasing the griddle

Before you make the batter, if you plan to maintain a starter, set aside 1 cup of it.

In a pitcher or a mixing bowl with a spout and handle, combine all the ingredients for the batter, except the water, and mix well. Slowly pour in the warm water, while stirring, to thin the mixture to a consistency closer to crepe batter than pancake batter — you may not need all the water. The batter will immediately foam up. Let it rest 8 to 10 minutes until the foam subsides. Stir before using.

Heat a cast-iron griddle or frying pan slowly over medium heat until it is quite hot, hotter than for regular pancakes. (When sufficiently hot, a small amount of water drizzled onto it will immediately form beads that dance wildly across the surface before evaporating, the griddle will smoke immediately when greased, and the batter, when poured on, will sizzle loudly. If the griddle isn’t hot enough, the cakes won’t brown well, won’t have lacy edges, won’t rise quite as much, and will more likely stick.) Use the fatback skewered to a long-handled meat fork, or use a silicone basting brush (or scrunched up paper towel and tongs) dipped into melted fat or oil to grease the griddle evenly and liberally. (When I tried a natural bristle brush, it fused in the high heat.)

Make a test cake to check the consistency of the batter. If it’s too thick, the cakes won’t cook fully in the middle and the edges won’t become crispy and lacy; if it’s too thin, the cakes will stick to the griddle and tend to fold over on themselves when flipped. If needed, adjust with a little more water, starter, or buckwheat flour.

Pour the batter onto the hot, greased griddle to form cakes about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. The cakes are ready to flip when the edges begin to curl and centers show a small amount of moist batter, about the size of a quarter — 2½ to 3 minutes. Once flipped, cook another 45 seconds or so to color the underside and ensure the center is fully baked. (You may need to moderate the heat to avoid burning the cakes before the middle is baked through.) Between batches, scrape the griddle clean and regrease it.

Serve hot in stacks of three with butter and medium to dark maple syrup and breakfast sausage patties, if desired. Makes 9 six-inch (15-cm) cakes.

Leftover batter? Keep it for up to one day in the refrigerator. Just before making the cakes, stir in 3 pinches (less than a gram, less than ¼ teaspoon) baking soda for every 1 cup (240 ml) batter and, if needed, a little warm water to thin.