Jamaican Bulla Cakes is very delicious dessert and we can serve it in lunch. A bulla is made from an eggless doughy batter. It is a dark spiced dough with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, molasses and allspice. In Jamaica, we eat bulla with cheese or avocados. It is hotly debated which pairing is best but I guess it comes down to individual taste. So, bulla is one of the cheapest things you can buy in Jamaica. It is probably a food that came out of struggle because it is quick, easy and cheap to make.
A bulla is a typical street food but it’s delicious homemade. It also lasts a long time so you can make a batch of these and store them away. It’s a great go-to snack and an easy way to fill your tummy during the lunch hour. Kids love bullas and you can make it in smaller sizes for them.
Here are some notes before you get started:
Wet Ingredients
Its key to combine the wet ingredients first ensuring you dissolve the sugar and combine the molasses and fresh ginger well. Ginger is a key ingredient in bulla so both fresh and dry ground ginger is included in this recipe.
Dry Ingredients
Dry ingredients include ginger powder for an extra kick of ginger in the cakes.
Both baking soda and powder are used in the cake though it won’t rise too much. This cake is traditionally flat though soft and tender. The tender crumb is made possible by the baking powder and baking soda.
Baking
The cakes are cut out to the desired size and baked on parchment paper. It’s okay if the cakes are a bit dusted with flour. The bake is done at a high temperature for 25 mins until they are done. You can enjoy these completely cooled or slightly warm.
For Jamaican Bulla Cakes you will need:
Tools
- Mixing bowls
- Baking tray
- Parchment paper
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 10 ozs of very dark sugar
- 3 oz of water
- 1 tbsp black strap molasses
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp allspice
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Grease and cover the baking tray with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a bowl, make a thick, dark syrup of water, sugar, molasses, vanilla and grated fresh ginger.
- Sift together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. (flour, b. powder, b. soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice)
- Combine dry ingredients with a whisk and make a well in the center with a flat spatula.
- Pour the thick syrup and melted butter into the center and mix together until a sticky dough is formed.
- Turn out the mixture onto a well floured board and bring the dough together by kneading gently for a few minutes. Once the dough comes together and is smooth you will roll it out. If the dough keeps sticking to the board, sprinkle the board with more flour to help the dough to come together.
- Roll out the dough to about a 1-1.5 inch thickness. It may look a bit flat but they will get a little rise in the oven. It is okay if your dough looks dusty from the flour. Cut circles out with a biscuit cutter or you may use the rim of a medium sized bowl to get the sizes you desire. This mix should yield 6 medium sized bullas.
- Place bullas on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Once baked, pull from the oven and brush with melted butter.
- Cool and serve with cheese or avocado
Notes
- Each time you cut circles, reform the dough into a ball, roll it out again and cut new circles.
- If the dough feels too crumbly when you first turn it out onto the board, help it come together with a sprinkle of about 1 oz of water.
