r/1930s

Gary Cooper's BUTTERMILK GRIDDLE CAKES a recipe borrowed from his mother and they've been on my radar for a long time. They weren't what I expected. I thought they'd be more like your everyday, run of the mill pancake batter, like Bisquick.

I'm so happy we finally decided to make them this morning and here are my notes:

• Easy to prepare
• The batter is really, really thick and almost like a biscuit batter.
• Get your griddle or pan really hot and butter it well
• "drop by spoonfuls" on your hot buttered griddle.
• The recipe is pretty accurate.
• Don't be tempted to add extra milk or cream, because I tried that near the end and it just made them undercooked in the middle.

As for the taste, yum! They're pretty moist and so flavorful. Better that any other griddle cake or pancake I've ever had, except for the Charlie Chaplin Sour Cream Hot Cakes I made last month.

They're both so good but different. These are more rustic and Charlie's are more delicate. I would highly recommend you making these if Griddle Cakes are your thing. Just follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

The recipe was famously published in the 1931 vintage cookbook, Favorite Recipes of the Movie Stars. 

This picture comes from The Ethel Waters Show; it shows Ethel Waters and Fredi Washington starring in the stage-play adaptation of Mamba’s Daughters, a novel written by DuBose Heyward. Hayward’s wife Dorothy assisted in adapting the novel for broadway. This was historically groundbreaking!

“There comes a point when a dream becomes reality and reality becomes a dream.”
- Francis Farmer -