Guyanese Bakes (Floats)

Guyanese bakes, also known as fry (fried) bake and floats, are mounds of fluffy dough, fried to a delicious golden brown treat. These fried breads are Guyanese a delicious snack or breakfast side dish.

Guyanese Style Bake or Floats

Guyanese floats are a breakfast staple in my home. We usually enjoy them on the weekend with sautéed salt fish. Fried bakes have a slightly crunchy exterior and a perfectly fluffy center.

Why You’ll Love This Guyanese Bake Recipe

• Authentic: These bakes are true to the flavor and texture of bakes enjoyed throughout Guyana and the Caribbean.
• Easy to follow: Made with just a few simple ingredients, you more than likely won’t have to make a grocery store run to make these.
• Versatile: This recipe can be made savory or sweet so whether you’re using it as a side for a meal or just want a tasty treat, this works!
• Delicious: These round mounds of fried dough are absolutely mouthwatering. Good luck having leftovers because this batch is bound to get devoured!

What is the history of Guyanese (fry) Bake?

Bakes are a popular dish across Caribbean cuisine. They are many things depending on the country. Like in Guyana, in Trinidad they are called floats or float bake. In Jamaican they are called fried dumplings and Johnny Cakes in other countries. Although the exact origins of bakes or even why they are called bakes when they are fried, are unknown, the recipe definitely has Indian and West African roots.

African and Indian Influences

Many West African countries make something very similar to bakes called mandazi. Some West African countries also call their fried dough African doughnuts (donuts), puff puff and beignets.

In India poori (puri) a crispy fluffy fried bread, look exactly like Guyanese fried bakes. They are often savory and served with stews. Exactly like my mom Sheena (who is Indo-Guyanese) makes her bakes.

Guyanese Bake Ingredients

This recipe is made with easily accessible ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen.

• Warm water: Ensure the water is warm so the sugar properly dissolves.
• Brown sugar: This won’t make the bake super sweet but it enhances the overall flavor.
• All Purpose Flour: For the dough; plus more for dusting the work surface.
• Baking powder: For that light, airy texture you expect.
• Salt: An essential ingredient for taste.
• Butter: Use vegan butter, coconut oil or cooking oil as alternatives
• Cooking oil: Use an oil with a high smoke point like sunflower, grape seed, avocado

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Guyanese Bake

Make the Dough

Add the brown sugar and warm water to a small mixing bowl and mix together until the sugar crystals completely dissolve the set aside.

Then add the flour, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix together well then add the butter and mix in using your fingertips. Mix until the butter combines to form a crumbly texture.

Next make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the sugar water solution you set aside earlier. Mix together to form a soft dough ball.

Knead The Dough Then Rest

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead well into a smooth ball. This should take about 5 minutes.

Place the dough ball into a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 30 – 45 minutes.

Divide The Dough

After the dough has rested for at least 30 minutes, turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Knead each piece into a smooth ball cover and rest again for at least 15 minutes.

Prepare Frying Oil

When ready to cook, add the oil to a large saucepan deep enough for deep frying and heat up on medium heat. The oil should be about 300°F. If you bring it to 350° F (the regular temperature for deep frying, your bakes will burn and the inside will be raw).

Fry Bakes

While the oil is heating up, on a floured surface, roll each dough ball into a flat disk. Then when the oil is hot submerge the rolled out dough, into the oil. The dough will initially sink to the bottom of the pot, then it will rise to the surface and begin to swell.

Flip

After about 1 to 1 ½ minutes or when the side of the bake that is in the oil is brown, flip the bake over to brown the top side. Once both sides are brown, remove from the oil and place in a dish towel lined bowl. Cover the bakes with the dish towel to keep warm while you fry the other bakes. Repeat the frying steps for the remaining 11 dough balls.

Recipe Variation: Thick Guyanese Style Bake

Some people prefer a thick fried bake. Use this exact recipe, but instead of rolling out the dough into a thin disk, roll the dough out until it is a 1/4 inch thick. Then shallow fry the dough in a frying pan with two cups of oil. Spoon the oil over the frying bake for even cooking. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side then flip and repeat.

This type of bake is thick and doughy on the inside. Slice open with a knife and enjoy stuffed with salt fish or keep it simple and add a few slices of cheddar cheese.

Other Recipe Variations

• Sweetness: When it comes to sugar, this recipe is flexible. So if you need to adjust the sugar for any reason please do. You may also use sugar alternatives like maple syrup, coconut sugar or honey in place of sugar in this recipe.
• Guyanese bakes with yeast: Many people make floats with yeast instead of baking powder. Substitute all of the baking powder in this recipe with 1/2 teaspoon of dry active yeast. Add the yeast to the sugar water solution and allow it to bloom before adding to the dry ingredients
• Fat: I prefer to add coconut oil to the dough. It gives it such a great flavor and (American) biscuit like texture. But you can use butter, lard, ghee, or even some cooking oil.
• Flavor: Aside from salt and sugar, you can add spices for a more distinct flavor. Try cinnamon or nutmeg.
• Shape: Sometimes, I roll the dough into a giant flat dish then use a biscuit or hand pie cutter to cut it into circular bakes. But you can cut your bakes into any shape. My mom always cut her bakes into triangles. Have little helpers? They can cut the dough into shapes like dinosaurs or hearts and stars. My children love using different shapes for their own unique bake cutouts.

Tips for making the best dough for Guyanese Fried Bake

Making a smooth pliable dough will result in the best bake texture. Use these tips to ensure you always get the best results:

1. Always measure your flour properly so that you do not end up with more flour than the recipe needs. Here’s a link to a great article on measuring flour. Measuring the flour ensures that the liquid to dry ingredients ratio is accurate and will help with the texture of the dough once you begin to knead it.
2. Always let your dough rest! Trust me, I’ve made bakes in a rush and it is better to just let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes so that the gluten can activate. When the dough becomes a bit stretchy and doesn’t break apart, it is ready!
3. Dissolve the sugar in warm water. For many years I added the sugar directly to the flour. Sometimes the larger sugar crystals do not dissolve during mixing or frying and would create a bumpy texture on the outside of the finished bakes. Dissolving the sugar with warm water first gives the bakes a really smooth texture on the outside.

Tips for Frying Float Bakes

Guyanese Bakes are deep fried. For best results use a pot that will allow the bakes to have enough room to float above the oil and cook. This is why they are also called floats. Here are a few more bake frying tips:

• If you use a frying pan to fry your bakes, you will likely have to spoon oil over the bakes. I avoid using frying pans because they are shallow and the bakes rest on the surface of the frying pan. When this happens the part of the bakes resting on the frying pan will brown faster than the sides and the bakes will have an uneven color
• Use an oil with a high smoke point when frying your bakes. Avocado oil or sunflower oil are my preferred oil for frying Guyanese style bakes.
• Keep your oil at a constant temperature. I keep my oil around 325°F. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, you can achieve this by keeping your heat on medium or just a little below medium. This ensures even cooking throughout.
• Don’t overcrowd your bakes. You may be tempted to fry several bakes at once to speed up the process, but try not to over crowd the pan. Two bakes at max is what I recommend for seasoned cooks, one bake at a time if you are a beginner.

Equipment

• 2 Mixing Bowls: You need one small mixing bowl and one large mixing bowl. The small one will continue the warmed water and sugar. the other will hold the other ingredients and eventually the dough.
• Rolling pin: You will need a rolling pin to shape the bakes. Don’t have one? Try a wine bottle.
• Large Saucepan: Fry the Guyanese bakes in this.
• Clean Dish Towel: Place this over freshly cooked floats to keep them warm as the rest of the batch finishes frying.

Why won’t my Guyanese bakes rise?

This happens for a number of reasons:

• Not using enough oil to fry the bake (see tips above)
• Using cold or old baking powder
• Not allowing the dough to rest before shaping and frying
• Not allowing the oil to come up to temperature before frying
• Having a stiff dough that is not smooth and pliable, therefore creating cracks on the surface of the bakes and preventing it from puffing up

Leftovers

Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to one week. Reheat them in the microwave, by wrapping them in a damp paper towel and microwaving them in 30-second increments.

The uncooked dough can be made ahead. Rest it in the refrigerator overnight or keep it frozen for up to one month.

Easy to Follow Guyanese Floats Video Tutorial:

Frequent Asked Questions