Trinidadian Bake - cami cooks

Makes 4 bakes

Bake is a staple in any Trini kitchen. It’s the thing that our mothers made when they needed some type of bread or to bulk up a meal in a pinch. It can be baked, deep-fried or pan-fried, but delicious all the same. Traditionally bake is eaten with saltfish, but I like to use it in place of bread as often as I can – because it’s delicious, simple and reminds me so much of home.

ingredients

2 cups	all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
3.5 tsp	baking powder
1 tsp	sea salt
1 Tbsp	sugar
1 Tbsp	unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup	water, more or less
	oil, for frying (I like canola for this)

Directions

ADD all ingredients except water and cooking oil and stir with a wooden spoon or clean hands to combine. Add half the water and stir to begin forming the dough. Add more water, a little at a time, and stir until dough becomes moist. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with your hands until dough is moist and pillowy, but not sticky. Once formed, return dough to the bowl and cover with a lightly dampened kitchen or paper towel; allow to rest for 15 minutes.

ROLL out bakes: dust a work surface and your rolling pin with flour. Divide dough into 4 equal portions and roll each into a ball. Roll each ball of dough out to approximately ¼-inch thickness.

HEAT a cast iron pan over medium heat. Once heated, add a thin layer of oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan entirely. Working one at a time, fry bakes until golden brown and crisp on one side before flipping to repeat on the other – should take about 2-3 minutes per side. Note: be sure to watch the heat closely and raise or lower as needed – every stove is different, and you don’t want the dough to colour too quickly. Hold cooked bakes on a paper towel-lined plate until service. Serve hot or at room temperature (though I must admit that there’s nothing quite like hot, fresh bake straight from the stove!).