Firecake Recipe
Q.I would like to know the recipe for the bread the soldiers ate. I would like to know the contents and how long it cooks in the modern oven. I want to make it for the kids in my class as we are studyng the Winter at Valley Forge, and I would like them to see what the poor soldiers ate.
A. Carson, Ocala, FL
A.Firecake is a mixture of flour and water — and salt if the soldiers happened to have it. You mix the ingredients together, form it into a cake, and bake it on a rock in the fire or over the fire, usually in the ashes until blackened. You can make a form of it at home by taking some flour and a little salt and mixing it with water until you make a thick, damp dough. You don't want it to be too sticky. (Ask an adult for help). Form it into a flat cake in the palm of your hand and put it on a greased cookie sheet and bake until brown. You could also just drop "globs" of the dough onto the cookie sheet and let them bake like cookies. The final product will be a very hard, not very tasty "biscuit" that served as food for the soldiers during the Revolutionary War when their regular rations were not available.
