Ashcake means: Ashcake is a term for johnnycake - a simple cornmeal flatbread - specifically when baked directly in or on hot ashes rather than in a pan. The name describes the cooking method: the dough was. The word is mostly archaic or historical; you will only encounter it in old texts, period drama, or school history rather than current teen conversation. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. This is a food-related word and harmless in itself. As a place or proper-name reference it is purely descriptive.