Whether you are a true "born and bred" Bajan or just a visitor to the island you will end up enjoying a bake or two for a morning breakfast or a daytime snack.
Whether you're far away from home or just kicking back on a Sunday morning and not sure what to eat to start the day, bakes will do the trick.
My friend Carl recently sent me a photo of his brunch plate.
Bakes - the Bajan way
Oh my gosh golly...Bakes...I had not eaten any of these delicious delicacies for so long.
My mum would make us bakes on rainy days or when we had run out of bread or even when we were ill and we didn't feel like eating....we always ate the bakes.
My taste buds started to water and I longed for them once more.
I decided there and then that I would make myself some bakes for lunch.
They're quite easy to make and every pantry should have the basic ingredients on hand.
I have no exact measurements...sorry....just eye ball it.
Bajan Bakes
The rough measurements for the ingredients are:
2 cups of all purpose flour (I mixed a little spelt flour into the batter)
I tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
2 tablespoons (or less) of sugar
A little spice - a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)
Water to mix it all together into a pancake consistency.
In a pan with hot oil carefully place the batter in spoonfuls and fry till golden brown on both sides.
Good old Bajan Bakes
Only eight bakes?
Of course not..... I made two layers of them...couldn't help it.
Bakes can be eaten with fishcakes, (another Bajan favourite), any kind of frizzled fish (bul jol), cheese, porridge or even a heavy drizzle of pancake syrup....whatever you fancy.
Opened up a can of Tuna in Thai Chili sauce (VERY HOTT) to go along with the bakes.
A nice fresh salad and a glass of cold mango juice and it was all good.
As luck would have it, a friend popped by and he was happy to have some too. (see photo above)
A little later, daughter dear came by and she was overjoyed to find them and she loaded up a good portion to take home with her.
They were really good and I hope I won't take too long to make another batch.
It must be noted here that the other Caribbean islands also enjoy bakes too, but depending on which island you visit, the bakes will be different.
Sometimes they are small and dense and muffin like, or they may be large and round or big and fluffy with an air pocket on the inside that can be filled.
Any way they are served they are all good.
