Salt-fish and bakes is the ultimate Caribbean breakfast. I remember as a little girl waking up on Saturday mornings to the sweet aroma prepared specially by my Grandmother. The excitement is so REAL that my mouth is watering from the memory! My grandmother usually served salt-fish and bakes with the traditional Guyanese sago porridge. Salt-fish and Bakes is literally a CHAMPION breakfast and it is soooo delicious and satisfying. What better way to start your Saturday morning? I could literally eat 3 of these in one sitting. The bakes are light and fluffy while the salt-fish adds an amazing burst of flavors and tastes.
What is different about this recipe?
Let’s talk cooking time: It is not necessary to wait 45 minutes for your dough to rise before frying bakes. If you have a warm place in your house, allow the dough balls to sit for 10 minutes or until it ‘puffs up’ a bit. BUT if it is cold where you are, just place the dough balls into a warm oven for 5 minutes then get to frying your bakes.
Let’s talk spices and flavor: One of the things I love about this recipe is the rich taste of the bakes. The addition of cinnamon and nutmeg certainly adds a better flavor to the fried bakes.
Caribbean Fried Bakes + Saltfish
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 servings 1x
Description
The Ultimate Caribbean Breakfast made easy. Prepare fried bakes and saltfish in no time! This recipe produces delicious, soft, and fluffy fried bakes. Let us not forget the yummy saltfish to go with it!
Ingredients
Fried bakes
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup of sugar + 1 tsp
- 1 ¼ tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon yeast
- 2 tablespoons butter (Room Temperature)
- 1.5 cups water
- 2 cups of oil
Salt Fish
- 1 lb salted codfish
- 1/3 of each pepper: red, green, yellow
- 3 stems of scallions, finely chopped
- ½ of a onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic, finely chopped
- 1 small tomato
- 1/2 tsp of freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 wiri wiri pepper or hot pepper of choice
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Chicken bouillon to taste
- Creole seasoning to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
Fried Bakes
- Proof the yeast: Add 1/3 cup of lukewarm water + 1 tbsp sugar + yeast. Allow to sit for 5 mins until a foam is formed.
- In a bowl, add flour and butter. Incorporate well by using your fingertips.
- Add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder and sugar. Mix well to incorporate all ingredients.
- Add yeast and water then mix to form a dough ball.
- Knead mixture for about 5 mins into a smooth ball.
- Using your hand or knife section dough into 14 equal parts or your desired number. Then form each part into a ball.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, sprinkle a bit of flour then lay the dough balls. Cover with a dish towel or clear wrap.
- Preheat oven to lowest temp (170 degrees) for 2 minutes. After allowing some air to escape, place tray into oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Flour surface and use the palm of your hand to pat all dough ball down into a thin circle (about 1/4 inch thick) then cover with a kitchen towel.
- Heat up your oil on high heat. Place the bake into the oil then reduce the heat to medium-high.
- Take a large spoon and baste the top of the bake with oil for 15 seconds. Flip then baste the new side for 15 seconds. Then allow bakes to cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip again and cook on opposite side for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the bakes from the oil and place into a small foil pan or bowl lined with parchment paper or paper towel to drain any excess oil.
- Repeat the process for the remaining dough.
Salt-Fish
- Add 1/3 cup of oil to a skillet. Add garlic, onion, saltfish, and lemon juice then sauté for 3 mins.
- Add bell peppers, hot pepper, cilantro, tomatoes and scallions.
- Add chicken Bouillon, black pepper and creole seasoning to taste.
- Fry the saltfish for 5 minutes then remove from heat.
- Serve with fried bakes and enjoy!
Notes
Bakes
- After mixing your ingredients, your dough should be a bit sticky. After you place it onto a floured surface and knead it, it will all come together.
- Place a bit of flour onto the parchment paper before laying dough balls. It prevents the dough from sticking.
- Be sure to allow the bake to sit and cook in oil for 1-2 minutes.
- After you preheat the oven to 170 degrees for 1 minutes open the oven door and allow some of the heat to escape for a few seconds. If you place your hand inside, it should be a bit warm NOT HOT! The whole idea is not cooking the dough but to allow it to double in size quicker. After removing the dough, it should look a bit puffy.
Saltfish
- Boil the salt-fish to eliminate the saltiness as you will be using seasoning during the frying process.
- After boiling, wash the salt-fish in water multiple times to get rid of any excess salt (you can taste the fish for saltiness) then drain in a strainer.
- Cilantro is not traditionally added to salt-fish but OMG it gives it such a fresh taste.
- You can use any seasoning of your choice to flavor your saltfish.
- If you don’t have access to saltfish. A great alternative is sardine.
- Category: Breakfast
Definitely a keeper!
Looking for some light, fluffy and delicious bakes? Give this recipe a try. I did and they were amazing! So soft and fluffy and the flavor wasn’t at all overpowering. I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical about the cinnamon and nutmeg ?
Author
hehe so happy this recipe worked out for you 🙂
Found this recipe today and made it today. They came out amazing! The bakes were just what I wanted. Light, fluffy and very delicious. This will be my go to recipe! Thank you!
★★★★★
I am a lover of bakes so i decided to give this recipe a try i followed it exactly how it was posted and let me tell you i am extremely happy with the results it came out amazing it was so delicious thank you for sharing your recipe i will be sure to try a few more of your recipes
Author
So happy that you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
I will try it this weekend, I am having out of town guests. I will let you know. Thank you so much
Should the yeast be instant yeast or dry active yeast?
You can use either
Love this recipe the family love it the best bake ever
★★★★★
so happy to hear this 🙂
This recepie is ‘ on point’! All guest and family members were happy about the looks and taste of the bake and salt fish. The nutmeg, yeast and cinnemon are new for me. My mom never used those ingredients. She used only baking powder as the raising agent. Well done!.
★★★★★
so happy to hear this 🙂
Girl!!!! I made my bakes tonight using your recipe and just a few slight adjustments. When I tell you!!!! These were the softest, fluffiest, best bakes I’ve ever made. I skipped the oven step and let them proof under plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. This method worked well for me. I even used year old expired baking powder and these bakes were amazing. Thanks for the recipe ❤️
so happy to hear this 🙂