Hot Bakes for Cocoa Tea

Mom: Let's go make some Bakes!
Child: Yay! What are we baking?
Mom: We're not baking anything.
Child: You just said let's go bake.
Mom: Haha! No darling, we're making bakes, not baking something.

Yes, these babies are fried, even though they are called Bakes. We also call them Float, which is probably a better name as they puff up and float to the surface once they hit the hot oil. Bakes are a very popular item among the food vendors on the island. You will find them being made at practically every festival, family gatherings, at the beach, in the market, or sometimes even randomly along the side of the road.

The basic recipe for Bakes varies from island to island. St Marteen/St Martin make a slightly saltier Johnny Cake. Trinidad and Guyana use more fat in their bake dough. Barbados has a sweeter, denser bake. Not surprisingly, I prefer the St Lucian version. These have a great balance between the sweet, and salty, and are not dense. They can be eaten plain or with butter, cheese, jam, fried chicken, or the saltfish from my Green Fig and Saltfish recipe. It's really up to you how you want to eat them. They can be used in place of bread and pair really well with practically anything. In the days of the sugar plantations, bakes with either some porridge or a piece of roasted saltfish would provide a very filling breakfast for the workers. Coupled with some cocoa tea, they were ready to face the day.

Living in Toronto, I've come to appreciate warmth and comfort provided by a couple of hot bakes combined with a steaming glass of cocoa tea. There's nothing quite like it to warm you up on a cold winter's day. 

Fried Bakes

4 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
3 Tbsp butter (just a little less than a quarter cup)
Lukewarm water (about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups)
Oil for deep frying

Add flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon (if using) to a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Rub in butter to flour mixture.

Add enough water to make a soft dough. When the dough comes together, knead for about 6 to 8 minutes  or until dough begins to become smooth and elastic. Rub the dough with oil and let rest, covered for at least 30 minutes. 

Knead rested dough for 1 minute and then divide the dough into equal pieces and form into balls. I usually get between 16 - 18 balls.

Heat oil in a deep pan and let come up to 350 degrees F. The oil should be hot but definitely not smoking.

Take one ball of dough and place on the counter. Using the palm of your hand,  press down to flatten the dough. You should now have a rough circle. Take the flattened dough and using your thumbs and forefingers, flatten the dough a bit more until you have a slightly larger and slightly flatter circle. 

Add dough to oil - the dough should sink and within 3 seconds start floating to the top of the pan. If it doesn't then your oil is still too cold. Using a long-handled pot spoon, spoon oil over the top of the dough so that it continues to puff up, as soon as it puffs up, flip it over. You will notice that it starts to bubble and move around the pan. Let cook until the side is nicely browned.

Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove bake from pan draining off the excess oil. Add to a paper-toweled bowl. Repeat the process from until all the bakes are made.

Can be eaten as is, or with your favourite filling. Also pairs well with cocoa tea.

Note: Use real butter as much as possible. While margarine can work in a pinch, I've found that the bakes tend to lack that special something as opposed to those made with actual butter.



Stay warm!

Ash :)