A St. Lucian Light Supper: Bakes and Di Te Cacao

Di te cacao (dee-te-cah-coe) or cocoa tea and bakes are very common in St. Lucia. Dinner tends be light there, so these two make for a light supper. I learned how to make them during my third week in St. Lucia. Bakes can be fried or roasted (baked in the oven).  I had cocoa tea and roast bakes served with butter and cheese for dinner my second night there. Fried bakes are sold stuffed with salt fish at the food stand I would go to during training.

The ingredients for the cocoa tea are:

• 1 cocoa stick
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 cups of water
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 3 table spoons of flour

To make it, you grate the cocoa stick (some people break it up, but it dissolves better when grated) and break up the cinnamon sticks in a pot. You can use a teaspoon of nutmeg, but we used the skin from the nutmeg. Then add sugar, salt and mix it together. Next, add water and put it on the stove, stirring it every 3-5 minutes. Then add in flour to thicken the tea. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Here is a video of me making the cocoa tea:

The ingredients for bakes are:

• 3 lbs of flour
• 2 table spoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tables spoons of sugar
• yeast (baking) or baking powder (fry)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cup of water or coconut milk

After adding all of the ingredients together, you have to knead the dough and let it rise for 30-35 minutes. This was my first time kneading dough. Here's a video of it:

For a medical session during training, the Peace Corps doctor went over different types of food we can eat. We split up into 4 groups: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack. My group had snack, so we made guava juice, fried plaintains and bakes. Two of the volunteers and I did the bakes. We used fresh coconut milk instead of water because it gives the bakes more flavor. 

The coconut was cut up into small pieces and then put into a blender. Afterwards, it was poured into a strainer over a container and sifted through to get all of the liquid out. Next, we added flour, salt, sugar, yeast, cinnamon, cinnamon, butter and the coconut milk into a large bowl. 

 

After being mixed together, it was kneaded into dough and sat for 30 minutes. Afterwards, we took small pieces of the dough, rolled them into a ball and shaped them into circles. One of the volunteers made a heart. We put them in the oven on 350 F for 30 minutes and flipped them half way through. We fried about 10 of them which only takes a few minutes. 

Had a lot of fun making these and it's even better with friends.