When I originally posted the above (in May 2007) my Mother and I had started regularly making our own bread in bulk. In the years since my Mom was diagnosed with celiac disease and I myself cut back immensely on my own flour intake. As a result, my breadmaking is now much less frequent but it’s something that I still do enjoy. Unfortunately the cost of living still continues to rise, making the intent and purpose of my ‘Breadifesto’ possibly even more relevant today than it was then. I am also heartened that over the last year gluten-free flours have become more prevalent locally, and as a result more affordable (they’re still pretty expensive though).

TG readers, what do you do to cut corners on your own food expenses? Are you making more items at home perhaps? Growing your own ingredients? Paying more attention to sales? Creative menu planning? I’d love to know!

Want more bread recipes? Check out our Bread recipes archive or visit the Bread, Baking & Desserts section of Veni Mangé, Trinigourmet’s Amazon Bookstore!

This post was originally published May 16, 2007. It has been updated once since then.

This post was originally published on October 13, 2006. It has been updated twice since then.

Bake is a popular breakfast bread here in Trinidad. Hearty by nature, its heavy crumb keeps you feeling satisfied for hours. Especially when taken with a savory topping. My version here, raises the fiber content through a healthy dose of wholewheat flour. Be sure to pay attention to the resting time and icy water, it’s necessary for tender ‘non-brick’ results

Wholewheat Bake

Ingredients:
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 oz butter (or margarine)
1 1/2 oz vegetable shortening
1 cup ice cold water

Method:
1. Sift flour with the baking powder and salt

2. Rub in the fats
3. Slowly add the water to make a smooth dough (dough will be sticky at this point)
4. Begin to incorporate enough wholewheat flour to make a smooth, dry, but elastic dough. Knead well.
5. Shape the dough into a bowl and allow to rest for 60 minutes
6. Preheat oven to 400F
7. After 1 hour, place dough onto floured board
8. Roll to a thickness of 3/4″ to 1″

9. Place dough onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes
10. Serve hot, cut into wedges.

makes 4 – 6 slices

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com. A link back to our site is not necessary but always appreciated

This recipe’s origins lie in an impulsive purchase of starfruit (carambola) in 2007. Somehow I had an idea of using it to make a cheesecake topping but the cheesecake never materialized and I was stuck with the silly things in my vegetable drawer. Rather than let them go bad I pondered what else I could use it for. See I’ve been committing myself to not only recreating and sharing as many local/traditional foods as possible, but also to re-interpreting foreign dishes into a local lexicon as much as possible.

After seeing recipes for zucchini bread and then a vegan recipe for Sunshine Citrus Bread it occurred to me… why not make Carambola Bread! D’OH! I mentioned my plan to a few friends – all of whom viewed me with suspicion. I remained undaunted though, in my mind the tart juiciness of carambola (locally dubbed five-fingers) made it the lovechild of the zuchinni and citrus worlds! There was no way this would fail!

The finished product was ridiculously soft and moist. At first I thought it was not sweet enough, but mom said it was fine. After a few hours when I went back to it I agreed. But adjust to suit your own preferences. The bread is good as-is.. but I highly recommend having it slathered with butter. Oh it was insane! The loaf was gone by the next day

Maybe I should get back to figuring out that cheesecake topping now ?

Carambola Bread
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Serving Size: 12

Ingredients:

1 cup pureed five fingers (carambola/star fruit) – about 3 to 4 small
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup wholewheat flour
1 cup white flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and oil or spray one large (9 X5X3-inch) loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the puree, sugar, milk, and egg.
3. In another bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir just until all the flour is moistened. Do not over-stir.
4. Pour into the prepared loaf pan(s) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.

Note: If using a black non-stick baking tin reduce the heat to 325

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com and linking back to this site

This post was originally published January 8, 2007. It has been updated once since then.

June 23rd is Corpus Christi in Trinidad and Tobago, a public holiday.

According to Gov.TT:
Corpus Christi is a long-standing tradition in our islands, going back to our pre-British occupation by the Catholic Spaniards. Though mainly observed by Roman Catholics, it is a designated public holiday. This special Feast Day is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in commemoration of the institution of the Holy Eucharist. The impressive processions that take place (the biggest is in front of the Cathedral on Independence Square in Port of Spain) give you just a glimpse into the sacredness and significance of the occasion.

As a result I thought now was as good a time as any to answer one reader’s request for a recipe for ‘real’ Trini hot cross buns.

Would you believe that I have never had a Trini hot cross bun? It’s the truth! You see, my only experience with hot cross buns was on an Easter holiday to England when I was around 9. They were much too sweet and doughy for my liking and not being an insider to many Catholic festivals when I returned home I never saw them (or wanted to see them) again.

However when Janice (the reader) described the Trini hot cross buns of her youth as ‘yellow’ I instantly thought of the golden yellow sugar buns that are standard in all Trini bakeries. If these were the basis for a Trini hot cross bun I was more than willing to give them a shot! I decided to look through the various local newspaper recipe booklets that my mother has held on to through the years for hot cross bun recipes and, fortunately, one of them was actually an Easter one!

Using the recipe in that supplement and a recipe in the Naparima Girls High School Cookbook, as well as my many ‘tastings’ of sugar buns, I finally arrived at the following. I left mine as normal ‘sugar buns’ but feel free to use the instructions and additional recipe ingredients to add the traditional cross-shaped decorations. LIght and fluffy with a thin ultra-sweet crust, my mother and I enjoyed them immensely. Several people have told me that they taste better than Linda’s (a large bakery chain) including a reader Gina ! I hope that you will like them too

Feel free to keep the recipe requests coming

Trinidad Sugar Buns/Hot Cross Buns

Recipe by: TriniGourmet.com
Makes 16 buns

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp yeast
1 tsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm milk
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp margarine or butter
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp sultanas
2 tbsp currants
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground turmeric or saffron powder

Glaze

Dissolve 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp hot water

Icing (if using)

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
4 tbsps milk or cream
pinch salt
1/4 tsp lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients.
2. Stand aside in a warm place for about 10-15 minutes

3. Sift flour, tumeric/saffron and salt in a large bowl and rub in the margarine or butter
4. Add sugar, vanilla essence, cinnamon to yeast mixture
5. Add the eggs to the yeast mixture, beating well after each addition
6. Add sultanas and currants to yeast mixture
7. Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture
8. Combine to create a soft dough
9. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes
10. Place in a greased bowl and turn over to grease the top

11. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour)

12. Punch the dough down and shape into 16 balls
13. Place on lightly greased baking sheets

14. Cover and let rise until doubled (20 – 30 minutes)
15. Using a sharp knife cut a cross or X on the top of each roll (if desired)
16. Bake at 375F for 12 to 15 minutes
17. Meanwhile make icing and glaze by combining the mentioned ingredients
18. When buns are baked, brush with glaze

19. Cool on racks
20. When cool, drizzle icing over the top of each roll following the lines of the cut cross (if using).

This post was first published June 7, 2007. It has been updated twice since.

For more Caribbean recipes visit the Caribbean Cooking section of Veni Mangé - the Trinigourmet Amazon Bookstore!

Like any good food blogger I have amassed a huge list of recipes from other bloggers that I plan to ‘try one day’. One of my very first ‘Fabulous Finds’ was this Buttermilk Cornbread recipe that I got from Radmila’s food blog ‘Papamo‘ in 2007. Radmila is a true example of 21st century globalism. She is Serbian, married to a Guyanese, and living in Canada! I love her blog because so many of the recipes have been her exploring and recreating Guyanese dishes, always with humour and enthusiasm.

But back to the cornbread! I am always on the lookout for the next best cornbread and when I read her description “This cornbread is nice and moist, and sweet…but not too sweet.” I knew I would have to try it. Boy did it hit the mark! This has to be the lightest, moistest cornbread I’ve ever had. It was almost cake like. I did not make any changes to her original recipe, nor do I plan to! The only differences between her methodology and mine were that I used a 9 inch cast iron bowl and I used a combination of milk and vinegar in lieu of buttermilk. I also recommend a 25-30 minute baking time. So Radmila, stand up and take a bow, this one gets 5 Stars in my MacGourmet database and has been revisited again and again in the years since.

This post was originally published January 16, 2007. It has been updated once since then

Chalk it up to my high functioning autism, or my devotion to High Fidelity, but I just LOVE making ‘best of’ and ‘top’ lists. This time around I’m making a list of my Fave 3 Caribbean baked goods for May. Why for June? Well no reason really, maybe cos my Top 3 is constantly evolving and changing. So this is just a snapshot really, hope you enjoy it

1. Wholewheat Bake (recipe)

Simple. Hearty. Wholesome. I usually make this for Sunday breakfast. It’s buttery and very filling, and preparation is a cinch!

2. Coconut Bake

When I run into people in ‘real life’. Many of them have cited this recipe as one of their faves. Well I have to confess it’s one of mine as well

3. Ciabatta Bread

Although most people don’t think of Italian food and Caribbean as going together there -are- Italian communities to be found. Here in Trinidad, street names like Prada in the area of St. Clair are a testimony to the Italian immigrants of yore. One of my favorite eateries used to be Giovanni’s on Abercromby Street (then Tragarete Road, now Tunapuna?). Run by an Italian chef who fell in love with Trinidad, he at one point also resided at the Hotel Normandie’s Ciao. Another great authentic Italian eatery is Ristorante Garibaldi, and rounding the bunch we also have Il Colesseo, Panini Café and Caffe del Mar at Crew’s Inn. Recent arrivals also include Buzo on Warner St, and over in Tobago there is La Cantina with its wood burning brick oven. This recipe for Ciabatta Bread creates a very light loaf, soft and chewy on the inside with a thin crunchy rustic crust. It’s been linked to by TheFreshLoaf.com and so I’ve gotten quite a lot of traffic because of it. I hope that the visitors who try it like it as much as I do

This post was originally published November 28, 2006. It has been updated once since then.

There is something about Sundays. The pace of life is slower, the roads are empty, the neighbourhood is quieter, and the sunshine seems slightly brighter. Sundays lend themselves to leisurely baking like no other day of the week. That’s why last Sunday I decided to make some Baking Powder Biscuits. These biscuits remind me a lot of those that you get at Kentucky Fried Chicken (at least the ones in Trinidad). They are light, crumbly and buttery. You can make them more uniform in appearance by rolling out the dough and using a cutter, however I like the freeform ‘drop’ forms so that’s why I went that route

Baking Powder Biscuits
——————————————————————————–

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsps baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (on the correct advice of a reader )
1/4 cup cold butter, cut up
2 tbsps chilled solid shortening
2/3 cup milk

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 425F
2. Butter the cookie sheet or cover it with parchment paper
3. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt
4. Cut in the butter and shortening until it resembles coarse meal

5. Add the milk and toss it in only until the dough hold together. (If the dough is becoming sticky place it in the fridge for 5 – 10 minutes)
6. Add a drop or two more milk if the dough is too powdery

7. To make drop biscuits, scoop 10 equal portions of the dough onto the baking sheet, placing them at least one inch apart

8. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until a light golden brown on top.

9. Cool on wire rack, serve warm

Makes 10 biscuits

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com and linking back to this site

This post was originally published January 17, 2007. It has been updated once since then.

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Mmm poori. This was originally intended as part of my Hanukkah 2010 menu series, however time and health intervened. However, better late than never right? Poori is an Indian fried bread that I was first introduced to during my years at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. There it was served, at the amazing India House restaurant, in spectacular fashion. A hollow shimmering bread the size of a small beachball! I loved tearing into it, marvelling at its thin slightly sweet and crispy shell, never thinking that one day I’d be able to make my own!

Surprise newsflash – It’s not that hard! Turns out poori is an extremely common Indian breakfast staple. With millions of home cooks making it daily it really shouldn’t intimidate you too much. The hardest part is getting the breads rolled out to the right thickness, and making sure that they puff evenly. These two steps are not difficult to master however and after one or two batches you should be getting the hang of it!

My main three tips are these:

1) Oil your hands liberally when shaping the poori. Flour will discolor the oil
2) Tap the circumference of the poori a few times just before they reach the surface. Then rub with the back of the spoon to encourage even puffing
3) Watch the following video to better understand the above!

So ready to get started now?

Poori
Makes 16 poori

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup chapati/atta flour plus 1/2 cup all-purpose flour -or- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour plus 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil + additional oil for hands as well as frying
½ cup warm water

METHOD:

1. Combine flours and salt
2. Rub oil into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add water to form a dough.
4. Oil hands and knead dough until it is soft, smooth and shiny in appearance (can take up to 10 minutes).
5. Cover dough with damp towel or plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
6. Knead quickly for a minute or two
7. Divide into 2 equal portions
8. Roll each portion into a rope and cut each rope into 8 equal portions
9. Roll these into smooth balls and put them back into the bowl (you can oil them upon completion to prevent them from sticking to each other)
10. Roll out into 5-inch circles. (The oil should prevent the dough from sticking to the pin or work surface by this point. If not add more At this point you can leave them in a fridge, covered, for up to a day before frying, but who wants to wait that long? )
11. Heat oil. You’ll know it’s ready when a wooden spoon handle dipped in immediately forms bubbles around its circumference.
12. Drop one bread at a time into the oil. Don’t crowd the pan – I like to work with 2 – 3 at a time as I have a smaller pan.
13. As the bread begins to rise to the surface tap the circumference lightly with a spoon, then rub the middle of the surface in smooth circular motion, keeping the bread from completely breaking the surface (don’t be too forceful with the spoon, it should be a gentle caressing movement )
14. If you’ve done the above step correctly you will feel the bread begin to puff, release the spoon and allow the bread to fry for 10-15 seconds, then flip and fry for another 10-15 seconds.
15. Remove and drain.
16. Enjoy!

Here in Trinidad the term bake is applied to any bread which is not leavened with yeast. It also usually involves cutting fat into flour in the early stages. People often ask me how I get my bakes to be so soft, well after much soul searching I am ready to share my ‘secret’ Ice water! I love to keep the dough as cold as possible and nothing does that better than ice water. Not only does that stop the gluten in the dough from toughening up it also keeps the little fat particles solid. This way they generate more steam in the baking process, resulting in a light fluffy bake. Of course, I have also heard that there are people out there who also love a rock-hard bake… So, I guess in that case I suppose doing the opposite of anything I suggested would yield you the results you desire

For me Coconut bake generates memories of Sunday mornings and warm Milo or some other form of hot chocolate. What memories does Coconut Bake have for you?

Coconut Bake

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ounce margarine
3/4 cup grated coconut
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup water

METHOD:

1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl.
2. Rub in the fat, then stir in sugar and grated coconut.

3. Add water, and mix into a firm dough.
4. Turn out onto floured board, knead lightly, shape into a ball and leave covered for 15-20 minutes.

5. Press into the center and using a rolling pin, roll into a circular shape about ¾” thick. Mark ‘wedges’ into dough with fork perforations

6. Heat oven to 350°.
7. Put onto a flat, greased baking sheet and bake till golden brown for about 20-30 minutes.

8. Remove from oven.
9. Cut into wedges 2-3 inches wide.
10. Serve hot, attractively arranged on a flat dish.

This post was originally published on March 2nd, 2008. It has been updated once since then.

I originally made this recipe for a 2007 edition of “Weekend Breakfast Blogging: Ethnic Dishes With A Twist”. Since then it has generated quite a bit of traffic, especially from Chowhound, something that -really- makes me smile In the original challenge the host wanted us to make a dish from a culture, country, or ethnicity other than our own. Well wow, that really left me in a bit of a tizzy I wasn’t (at the time) familiar with that many breakfast dishes, and those that I did know invariably came from my own cultural/ethnic/national mixes. Nothing I found peaked my interest until I pulled out a vintage cookbook that I used to look through a lot as a child but have never seen my mother use. She says it was a gift but nothing in it ever appealed to her. Was she insane? Just look at that cover If this couldn’t give me the answer, nothing could.

I was not disappointed. The chapter “Breads from Abroad” opened with a stunning photo and recipe for a Danish Kringle. I knew that this would be my contribution immediately! I loved everything about the recipe. The name, the photo, the ingredients, the description.

From Better Homes and Gardens’ Meals with a Foreign Flair:

Flaky butter-rich layers fold around sweet’-n-spicy raisin filling; crisp almonds toast atop!

And flaky it was indeed. Just look at it falling apart as I chowed down

If you’ve been turned off by cloyingly sweet supermarket danishes, you’ll definitely appreciate the subtleness that the icing sugar filling contributes to the dough. Definitely a 5 star recipe. Very similar to the croissants which I made earlier this year (and am yet to post d’oh!) but much less labour intensive I don’t know how many Danish readers I have but I hope I did your bread some justice

From Wikipedia:

Kringle is a pastry developed in Scandinavia.

In Danish and Norwegian the word is kringle, plural kringler; Swedish: kringla, plural kringlor; Icelandic: kringla, plural kringlur; Finnish: rinkeli. The word origins from Old Norse kringla, meaning ring or circle.

In Scandinavia kringle denotes the pretzel-like knotted shape rather than the pastry type. Kringles may be made from puff paste (like Danish pastry) or yeast dough, filled with remonce or marzipan and raisins, sprinkled with coarse sugar, nut flakes or iced. Small saltkringler also exist, being the Danish word for pretzels. Kommenskringler are half-hand-sized breads in kringle shape, made from unsweetened yeast dough with caraway seeds. Sukkerkringler are similar, but sprinkled with sugar instead of caraway. Kringles are still popular items in modern Danish bakeries. The kringle symbol is one of the few ancient guild signs still being used and a golden kringle sign is often hung outside bakeries.

Danish Kringle (recipe)
Recipe from: Better Homes and Gardens’ Meals with a Foreign Flair
Makes 2 Kringles

INGREDIENTS:

Dough:

3/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Raisin Filling:

Add 1 teaspoon ground cardamom to 1/4 cup soft butter; gradually stir in 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar. Blend in 2 tablespoons cream; add 1 cup light seedless raisins and mix.

Almond Topper:

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup halved almonds

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cream butter with 1/4 cup flour
2. Roll between sheets of waxed paper to 10 x 4 inch rectangle. Chill.
3. Soften yeast in 1/4 cup warm water
4. Mix egg, milk, sugar, salt, yeast; stir in flour for soft dough
5. On floured surface, roll to 12-inch square; place chilled butter in center; overlap sides of dough atop butter.
6. Turn dough 1/4 way around; roll to 12-inch square

7. Repeat folding and rolling twice more.
8. Wrap in waxed paper.
9. Chill 30 minutes
10. Roll to 24×12 inch rectangle.
11. Cut lengthwise into 2 strips
12. Spread each with Raisin Filling and roll as for jelly roll, starting with long side.
13. Moisten edges; seal
14. Stretch each to 30-inch length without breaking

15. Place seam sides down on greased baking sheet shaping as shown
16. Flatten to 1/2 inch with rolling pin
17. Brush Kringles with beaten egg; sprinkle with Almond Topper
18. Cover, let rise til double, 25 minutes

19. Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes, or till golden

For more recipes like this one check out the Bread & Baking section of Veni Mangé – The Trinigourmet Amazon Bookstore.

This post was originally published on August 27, 2007. It has been updated once since then.